House approves bill that would eliminate redundant agency reports

The House of Representatives approved a measure on Monday that was introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to eliminate duplicative agency reports to Congress.

The Government Reports Elimination Act would eliminate 79 executive agency reports to Congress that have been deemed unnecessary by House committees and the Office of Management and Budget.

“The Government Reports Elimination Act is a bipartisan reform that will save taxpayers money and streamline the government reports process,” Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said. “Congress relies on accurate, timely reports to inform its spending and policy decisions, but outdated or duplicative reports are simply a waste of government resources. By eliminating the 79 reports deemed unnecessary by both the Office of Management and Budget and House committees, we can save taxpayers an estimated $1 million a year for the next five years.”

The bill was co-sponsored by Reps. Rob Woodall (R-Ga.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.).

“Passing the Government Reports Elimination Act represents precisely the type of bipartisan, good government legislating that Congress should be doing more of,” Connolly, the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations, said. “In today’s challenging fiscal environment, it is incumbent that we leverage every opportunity to streamline or eliminate antiquated agency reporting requirements that are duplicative, irrelevant or simply ignored. Enacting our bipartisan legislation will free up precious agency resources, allowing taxpayer dollars to be devoted to operations that are truly mission-critical, high priority functions.”

Woodall said the bill was an example oft building widespread consensus in Congress to achieve commonsense solutions for the electorate.