SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Section 701 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, Public Law 114-74 (Nov. 2, 2015), entitled the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (the 2015 Act), amended the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (28 U.S.C. § 2461 note) (Inflation Adjustment Act) to require agencies to publish regulations adjusting the amount of civil monetary penalties provided by law within the jurisdiction of the agency not later than January 15th of every year. In accordance with the 2015 Act, the amount of the adjustment is based on the percent increase between the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) for the month of October preceding the date of the adjustment and the CPI-U for the October one year prior to the October immediately preceding the date of the adjustment. If there is no increase, there is no adjustment of civil penalties.

On April 17, 2026, Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-26-11 was issued, advising agencies that due to the lapse in appropriations for government agencies in October 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics was unable to calculate the CPI-U for October 2025. Based on the lack of October 2025 CPI-U data, which is necessary to calculate the inflation adjustment for civil penalties under the 2015 Act, the Office of Management and Budget advised agencies that the annual adjustment for 2026 would be cancelled and agencies should continue to use the 2025 civil monetary penalty amounts. Therefore, the maximum penalty under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act for 2026 will remain $14,308. The minimum penalty under the False Claims Act for 2026 will remain $14,308, and the maximum penalty will remain $28,618.