FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 24, 2019
 Contact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), chairman of the Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management (FSO) Subcommittee, continued his efforts to rein in wasteful spending and reform government by reintroducing the bipartisan Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act (S. 2618). Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Mike Lee (R-UT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Rob Portman (R-OH), Cory Gardner (R-CO), and Mike Enzi (R-WY) have cosponsored the legislation.

“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.

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. 

Bonuses for Cost-Cutters would also ensure 90% of the savings are automatically directed toward deficit reduction, with agencies free to apply any remainder toward other agency priorities, subject to current law.

In addition to introducing the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act in multiple sessions of Congress, Dr. Paul’s efforts to stop “use it or lose it,” end-of-year federal spending binges also include holding hearings in the FSO Subcommittee on the problem. You can find those HERE and HERE.

You can read S. 2618, the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act below.

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