Sen. Joni Ernst
The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on March 17 advanced two bipartisan bills backed by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), one to help prevent duplicative and wasteful federal programs and another that would make more information about government spending accessible to the American public.
“These two bills will go a long way in cutting down on waste and shining light on the tax dollars being spent,” Sen. Ernst said. “I’m pleased Democrats and Republicans agreed to move them forward.”
Sen. Ernst is an original cosponsor of the Duplication Reduction and Scoring Act, S. 664, and she sponsored the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act, S. 636.
If enacted, S. 664 would require the U.S. Comptroller General to review certain legislation in order to identify potential risks of duplication of and overlap with existing federal programs, offices and initiatives, according to the congressional record summary of the bill, which Sen. Ernst introduced on March 10 with bill sponsor Rand Paul (R-KY) and fellow cosponsor U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
“In Washington, there’s no shortage of waste and duplicative government programs — always at the expense of the American taxpayer,” said Sen. Ernst.
Meanwhile, S. 636 would require the director of the Office of Management and Budget to submit to Congress an annual report on federal projects that are over budget and behind schedule, according to the congressional record bill summary. Sen. Ernst on March 9 introduced S. 636 with cosponsors including U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI).
“We certainly need to cut the fat and get rid of unneeded federal programs,” Sen. Ernst said, “but, at the very least, hardworking taxpayers have a right to know where and how their money is being spent.”
Both measures now head to the full chamber for consideration.