On Wednesday, Congressman Alex X. Mooney, Congressman Ken Buck, Congressman Ralph Norman, Congressman Scott Perry and Congressman Pete Sessions introduced the Transparency in Federal Spending Resolution.
This resolution requires any legislation that authorizes or makes an appropriation to include a table outlining the funds authorized or appropriated. This would include a cost estimate of the debt required to carry out this spending. As we saw with the 4000+ page $1.7 trillion Omnibus that passed in December with only days to review, Members of Congress and our constituents often must rely on news sources to get a clear understanding of what exactly is being spent and where. This resolution will greatly increase the transparency of where Americans tax dollars are being spent.
“Washington spending is out of control,” said Congressman Alex X. Mooney. “Getting runaway federal spending in check is critical to ensuring we are not saddling future generations with even more debt. My resolution will provide full cost transparency, so Members of Congress and the public are fully aware of what a bill’s cost impact will be.”
The resolution is supported by the National Taxpayer Union, FreedomWorks, Heritage Action, Americans for Prosperity and Citizens Against Government Waste.
“Congressman Mooney’s legislation would improve federal spending transparency by requiring new bills to include funding tables detailing the cost of proposed new authorizations and appropriations. NTU applauds this pro-taxpayer, good government resolution.” – Andrew Lautz, Director of Federal Policy, National Taxpayer Union
Adam Brandon, President of FreedomWorks, commented:
“Getting control of runaway federal spending is vital to the health of our nation. This bill would enable the people’s representatives to determine where taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars are going and identify programs that can be reduced or eliminated.”
“Members of Congress too often introduce legislation with well-intentioned ideas but terrible consequences for the American taxpayer. Congressman Mooney is trying to reverse that standard by introducing legislation to require detailed information on costs over time and a bill’s true fiscal impact. We encourage all Members to support this legislation, which would help to expose the true costs of federal legislation.” – Ryan Walker, Vice President of Government Relations, Heritage Action
