FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 12, 2021
Contact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), ranking member of the Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight (ETSO) subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), reintroduced the Legislative Performance Review Act (LPRA) to encourage Congress to regularly review federal programs and look for ways to improve them or otherwise consolidate or eliminate duplicative or wasteful efforts.

Similar legislation was previously passed in a bipartisan manner by several Congresses, and was championed in the 95th Congress by then U.S. Senator Joe Biden (D-DE). Today, there are over 1,000 different programs that have not been reauthorized yet continue to get funded, totaling over $410 billion annually. Funding these programs without review leads to duplication, fragmentation, inefficiency, and waste of taxpayer money.

“We cannot afford to keep spending taxpayer dollars on expired programs and ones that are never reviewed. I just want to exert the power of the purse, and that means spending must expire. My bill, will end expired programs, require Congress to review the need for programs before spending more money, and make sure we are only using tax dollars on things that make sense,” said Dr. Paul.

“It is clear that there is growing sentiment around the country for less government, more efficient government, less costly government, and less intrusion into people’s lives by government. I do not believe that this sentiment is going to go away. In fact, I think it may get stronger. It is our responsibility, as I see it, to meet this feeling with action. Spending control legislation will benefit the taxpayers of the country. It should help assure better service for the dollar and fewer dollars spent. This legislation will save considerable amounts of money,” said then U.S. Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) on S. 1244. 

Background information on the Legislative Performance Review Act can be found below. You can read the legislation in its entirety, HERE.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Legislative Performance Review Act would do the following:

1. Cause authorizers to regularly review program performance by limiting all authorizations to four years.
   1. Allow authorizing committees to request – by resolution – longer authorizations for specific programs in their jurisdiction if they believe a longer review period is more appropriate.
2. Slowly “wind down” programs over a two-year period if their authorization expires.
3. Require committees to utilize existing Government Performance and Results Act data, Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports, including: the duplication report, Inspector General information, and other evidence of program performance.
4. For new programs, ask authorizers to state the problem to be solved, and why a new program is necessary.
5. Create a point of order against any provision in an appropriations bill that funds a program for a fiscal year in which it is not authorized.
   1. The point of order only strikes the offending text, not the whole bill.
   2. The point of order may be waived by 3/5th vote in the Senate.

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