ATR is urging all members of the U.S. House of Representatives to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 4249, the "CORE Spending Act," sponsored by Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC).
The bill is important in light of current proposals to establish a bipartisan commission to recommend changes to federal spendign programs and the tax code, like the Conrad-Gregg proposal floated in the senate, which represents a big threat to taxpayers.
From our letter in support of Rep. McHenry’s bill:
This bill establishes a bipartisan commission to recommend comprehensive changes to federal spending programs and the tax code WITHOUT the fatal flaw (a guaranteed tax increase) other similar House bills have had in the past.
In light of the dire current fiscal situation, calls for establishing such a commission have been getting louder. On the senate side, Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) have introduced a bill which may seem innocuous at first glance. However, given the way it structures its bipartisan tax and spending reform commission and procedures to vote on its recommendations, the bill would lead to a guaranteed tax increase. Similarly flawed proposals have been proposed on the House side by Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA).
Congressman McHenry’s bill avoids this deadly trap by incorporating an explicit prohibition of a tax increase as part of the commission’s proposal:
LIMITATION- The legislation developed under this subsection may not include any new, or any increase in an existing, Federal tax.
Consequently, House members should co-sponsor this bill, and stay away from any other bills creating similar bipartisan commissions without explicit langauge removing tax increases and/or new taxes from commission consideration.