The Railroad Retirement Board has announced updates to the fines for civil penalties to adjust for inflation, as mandated by a law from 2015. These adjustments are based on a calculation that compares changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) over the past year. For 2021, this resulted in an approximate 1.01% increase in penalties, which means certain fines under acts like the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act and the False Claims Act have increased slightly. These changes take effect from January 11, 2021.
Simple Explanation
The Railroad Retirement Board makes sure that fines keep up with price changes so they stay fair, and this year they made some fines a tiny bit higher. They did this by looking at how money values changed from last year, kind of like when prices at the store go up.