False Claims in Fight Over California's False Claims Act

In this article, Ventry reviews the business lobbying efforts that derailed California legislation to amend the state’s False Claims Act by permitting tax claims. He argues that opposition to the bill was based on false or misleading claims, and that those efforts effectively helped conceal tax fraud. Ventry also connects the campaign against private enforcement of tax laws with recent “antideference” efforts that undercut public enforcement of those same laws.