WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management for the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee held a hearing entitled, “Prudent Planning or Wasteful Binge? A Look at End of the Year Spending.” Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and James Lankford (R-OK) also participated in the hearing.
During the hearing, Sen. Paul explored the phenomena of end of year federal government spending – the practice of trying to obligate all remaining funds in an agency budget before they expire at the end of the year – as well as identified possible solutions to mitigate this problem, including legislation introduced by Sen. Paul, known as the Bonus for Cost-Cutters Act.
Witnesses testifying in the hearing included: Dr. Jason J. Fichtner, Senior Research Fellow for Mercatus Center at George Mason University; Dean Sinclair, Change Advocate for Changing the Culture of Waste in the Federal Workplace; and Dr. Philip Joyce, Professor of Public Policy and Senior Associate Dean for University of Maryland School of Public Policy.
In May 2015, Sen. Paul introduced the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2015, which would empower those on the front lines of federal spending to find efficiencies and improve productivity to return value to the taxpayer in the form of deficit reduction and less government borrowing. Building on the current federal law, the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act would allow a U.S. government agency’s inspector general to pay a bonus of up to $10,000 when a federal employee identifies surplus or unneeded funds.
For background information and top-line points on the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act, click HERE. To read Sen. Paul’s ‘The Waste Report,’ an ongoing project highlighting egregious examples of waste within the U.S. government, click HERE
Below are Sen. Paul’s opening remarks at the committee hearing on wasteful, end of the year spending in the federal government.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH SEN. PAUL’S OPENING REMARKS AT THE COMMITTEE HEARING
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