Americans for Tax Reform has released a letter in support of S. 1238, the “End-of-Year Fiscal Responsibility Act,” legislation sponsored by Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). S. 1238 caps the amount that federal agencies can spend in the final two months of the fiscal year.
If implemented, S. 1238 will save billions of dollars in taxpayer funds per year and bend Washington towards a path of fiscal restraint.
ATR commends Senator Ernst for her leadership on fiscal restraint and urges all Senators to co-sponsor this legislation.
Click here to read the full letter or see below:
Dear Senator Ernst:
I write in support of S. 1238, the “End-of-Year Fiscal Responsibility Act,” legislation that caps the amount that federal agencies can spend in the final two months of the fiscal year. If implemented, S. 1238 will save billions of dollars in taxpayer funds per year and bend Washington towards a path of fiscal responsibility.
Americans for Tax Reform commends you for your leadership on fiscal restraint and urges all members to co-sponsor this legislation.
Federal spending is completely out of control. Our national debt is $26 trillion and climbing. Congress has spent nearly $2.5 trillion this year in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, and Democrats want to spend trillions more.
Now more than ever, policymakers and bureaucrats alike have a duty to be responsible stewards of federal resources.
Currently, federal agencies are required to return any unused funding to the Treasury Department by the end of the fiscal year. While this seems like fiscally responsible policy, this system creates a perverse “use-it-or-lose-it” situation where agencies spend billions of dollars in the final two months of the fiscal year.
This is not a hypothetical scenario –during the final seven days of FY 2018, federal agencies spent a whopping $53 billion of taxpayer money on frivolous purchases unrelated to agency function. These purchases include $4.6 million on lobster tail and crab, $2.1 million on games and toys, $1.2 million on playgrounds, and $308,994 on alcohol.
To remedy this, S. 1238 limits an agency’s spending in the final two months of the fiscal year to the average amount the agency spent over the preceding ten months. This simple step will prevent bureaucrats from going on end-of-year spending binges to avoid sending money back to the Treasury.
Ultimately, the End-Of-Year Fiscal Responsibility Act is a commonsense piece of legislation that will save taxpayers billions of dollars in spending every year.
Onward,
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform