Bipartisan Walberg Legislation Passes Oversight Committee
Washington, D.C. – Two bipartisan bills authored by Congressman Tim Walberg (MI-07) to increase government accountability and save taxpayer dollars passed the Oversight and Government Reform Committee today.
H.R. 598, the Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act, was introduced with Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) and makes it easier to evaluate federal government spending by requiring federal agencies to identify their programs and provide basic information on what the program does and how much they cost.
"The tentacles of duplicative, wasteful programs are far-reaching inside the federal government," Walberg said about the Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act. "This bipartisan bill will help identify and streamline those outdated programs that have lost their intended purpose or impact so we stop throwing away the American people's hard-earned tax dollars."
"Taxpayers watch what they spend, so why can't Congress?" Cooper said. "The House has already passed our bill once, and I'm glad it's picking up steam again. Now it needs to become law."
H.R. 3089, the Grants Oversight and New Efficiency (GONE) Act, was introduced with Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (D-MI) and requires federal agencies to take action to identify and close out thousands of expired grant accounts with a zero balance.
"The federal government is currently racking up service fees to administer thousands of expired, empty grant accounts, costing taxpayers millions per year. Only in Washington does spending money on nothing fly under the radar. It's past time to get our fiscal house in order and responsibly manage our budget to eliminate wasteful spending—just like Michigan families and small businesses do every day," said Walberg about the GONE Act.
Following committee passage today, both H.R. 598 and H.R. 3089 await further debate on the House Floor.