Good, But Not Good Enough
Fiscal Reform Working Group Report Good But Not Good Enough
Washington – The report issued by the Senate Republicans’ Fiscal Reform Working Group is a step forward in the direction of genuine earmark reform, but unfortunately, does not go far enough.
Organized by Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Republican-organized task force was charged with studying the issue of earmarks and suggesting reforms. Senators Richard Lugar, Tom Coburn, Thad Cochran, Mike Crapo, and Johnny Isakson comprised the task force. Released today, the report calls on the Republican Conference to adopt three positive reforms:
- Debt Reduction: Instituting mechanisms to insure the elimination of any earmarks results in an actual reduction in spending, instead of sending the previously earmarked funds to the government agency to spend elsewhere.
- Transparency and Oversight: Changing Senate rules to require all senators requesting earmarks to abide by new disclosure requirements, including the earmark request letter; full earmark justification; a family member’s relationship to the earmark; whether or not the earmark will be subject to full competition.
- Executive Branch Earmarks: Insisting on greater transparency in the budget formulation process with respect to Executive Branch earmarks.
“These proposals are certainly a step in the right direction, but true earmark reform will require bold steps,” said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. “Transparency will promote accountability and help eliminate corruption, but does little to reduce the actual number of taxpayer dollars spent on mule and packers museums each year. At a minimum, we would hope the report would embrace President Bush’s call to cut the number of earmarks in half on the journey to eliminating earmarks altogether.”
Posted at Press Release at 4:40 PM | TrackBack
