Washington state is overhauling how it hunts down waste and abuse in government programs, establishing a dedicated Chief Fraud Prevention Officer and an interagency workgroup to safeguard public dollars against federal cuts and tight budgets.
Governor Bob Ferguson signed an executive order on Tuesday, creating the new leadership position and launching the Public Funds Fraud Prevention & Accountability Workgroup. The initiative aims to unify fragmented watchdog efforts across state agencies without requesting fresh funding, relying instead on existing resources.
“Washington takes fraud seriously,” Governor Ferguson said, according to the Govern…. release. “As we continue to face challenging state budgets and devastating cuts from the federal government, it is more important than ever to protect every dollar. My executive order unifies our prevention efforts across state government and expands them.”
Chief Fraud Prevention Officer Targets Health and Human Services
The newly established Chief Fraud Prevention Officer will focus on health and human services programs run by executive cabinet agencies. These include the state Health Care Authority, Department of Health, Department of Social and Health Services, Department of Labor & Industries, and the Department of Children, Youth & Families.
By coordinating program integrity measures across these specific agencies, the state hopes to protect federal funding streams. The governor’s office emphasized that this executive branch role operates separately from the Washington State Auditor, which handles independent whistleblower reports, fraud allegations, and performance audits.
State Auditor Pat McCarthy welcomed the announcement, noting the alignment between her office and the executive branch.
“A loss of public resources anywhere diminishes the public’s trust in government overall,” said Washington State Auditor Pat McCarthy. “I applaud the governor’s efforts to improve fraud prevention and detection. Earlier this year I created a director-level Special Investigations division because, like the governor, I believe fraud prevention efforts need to be elevated across government.”
A Statewide Cabinet-Level Workgroup
Beyond the new health-focused chief officer, the executive order creates a Public Funds Fraud Prevention and Accountability Workgroup co-chaired by the Governor’s Office and the Office of Financial Management (OFM).
NEW: Today, Gov. Bob Ferguson signed an executive order creating the state’s first Chief Fraud Prevention Officer and a fraud prevention workgroup to cover Washington's Health Care Authority, Social & Health Services, and Children, Youth & Families departments (Daycares)Wait.… pic.twitter.com/GtwiJMiGpM
The workgroup brings together representatives of the Governor’s cabinet agencies to coordinate their efforts, share best practices and expand on successful strategies across state government.
Under the terms of the order, this coalition must deliver a statewide Public Funds Fraud Prevention and Accountability Framework by June 30, 2027. The framework will outline standardized approaches to detection, reporting, referral, response, and recovery. The workgroup is also tasked with recommending a public-facing accountability dashboard to track performance measures, trends, recoveries, and implementation progress.
To support these structural changes, OFM, the Department of Enterprise Services, the Washington State Patrol, and the state Criminal Justice Training Commission must design new training programs. These range from basic fraud awareness and ethics for state employees to specialized financial crimes courses for investigators.
Legislative Push for a Broader False Claims Act
Alongside the executive order, Ferguson announced plans for upcoming legislation to expand Washington’s current legal toolkit against defrauding taxpayers.
While 25 states enforce False Claims Acts, Washington is one of only five that limits its law exclusively to Medicaid. The governor’s proposed request legislation would broaden the statute to cover all false claims against the state—such as overcharging for goods and services, fraudulent contract bids, or bogus loan and grant applications.
Under the proposed expansion, violators would face liability for up to three times the actual monetary damages sustained by the state, plus inflation-adjusted civil penalties. Under this mechanism, the individual reporting the fraud, known as the relator, receives a percentage of court-awarded penalties, while the state collects the remaining balance.
