The House next week will pass legislation aimed at ensuring people without vast financial resources can afford to sue the federal government.
In 1980, Congress passed the Equal Access to Justice Act, which was meant to help veterans, retirees and others afford the high cost of suing the government. The financing mechanism was simple: the federal agency whose actions gave rise to the lawsuit helped pay for the cost of the lawsuit.
But in 1995, Congress eliminated a requirement that agencies keep track of payments they were making under the law. Twenty years later, Republicans and Democrats say that change is making it impossible to tell whether agencies are paying people back for lawsuits against them, and if so, how much.
Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., is the lead sponsor of the Open Book on Equal Justice Act. His bill would require an annual report on how much agencies are paying out to people who need help financing their lawsuits, and Collins said the change is needed to make sure the law is working.
“Without any direction to track payments, most agencies simply do not do it, and Congress and taxpayers are unable to exercise oversight over these funds,” he said in October.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said the bill would set up an online database letting the public see just how much money each agency has paid to facilitate lawsuits. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., is another sponsor of the bill, and the three members said in October that the new tracking requirements would help Congress decide if the law needs to be tweaked.
“For too long there has been a lack of reporting and record keeping on the use of the Equal Access to Justice Act, which makes it difficult for Congress to assess the impact of the law,” they said. “Requiring agencies to keep track of the true costs of attorneys’ fees will help Congress determine if EAJA is working well, and what Congress can do to improve the law in the future.”
The House will take up Collins’ bill next week under a suspension of House rules, which means a process reserved for non-controversial legislation. In the last Congress, the House passed it in a quick voice vote, but it never moved in the Senate.
