On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, continued his efforts to rein in wasteful spending and reform government by reintroducing the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act.
Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) is a cosponsor of the bill.
Currently, federal law allows an agency’s Inspector General to pay bonuses of up to $10,000 of savings realized when a federal employee identifies waste, fraud, or mismanagement of funds. Dr. Paul’s legislation would expand these categories to include identifying surplus or unneeded funds.
“Successfully tackling our debt crisis requires vigilance at all levels of government, from lawmakers in Congress to the employees on the front lines that carry out the day-to-day spending. The pressure in Washington to spend all you can before the end of the fiscal year so you can get even more in the future is enormous. Bonuses for Cost-Cutters pushes back against this status quo, providing additional incentive to save taxpayer resources,” said Dr. Paul.
Bonuses for Cost-Cutters would also ensure 90 percent of the savings are automatically directed toward deficit reduction, with agencies free to apply any remainder toward other agency priorities, subject to current law.
You can read the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act HERE.
