Via National Taxpayers Union: NTU’s 14th Annual “No Brainers” List: 2024's Top Bipartisan Bills for Taxpayers

Via National Taxpayers Union: NTU's 14th Annual "No Brainers" List: 2024's Top Bipartisan Bills for Taxpayers

This Congress, the House Budget Committee has passed 17 budget process reform bills out of committee.

Today, Nicholas Johns, with the National Taxpayers Union, published a piece highlighting the top 10 "no brainers" list of bipartisan legislative reforms that Congress would be remiss not to pass. The House Budget Committee had four bills on the list that bring sensible, forward-thinking reforms to the federal government's broken system.

Word on the Street:

Nicholas Johns, Via the National Taxpayers Union:

• "In this year's lame duck session, National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is happy to present its 14th annual "No Brainers" list of legislative reforms that can unite lawmakers across the political spectrum."
  
  
• [H.R. 8342, Improper Payments Transparency Act, led by Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-IN)] "Why It's a No-Brainer: Improper payments take taxpayer funds away from their intended use. Understanding the problem by requiring the President's budget request to include detailed information on improper payments will help fix this. More transparency regarding improper payments and information about how agencies are attempting to combat these wasteful practices will allow Congress to better course correct in the future."
  
  
• [H.R. 8341, the Cost Estimate Improvement Act, led by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA)] "Why It's a No-Brainer: This bill would remove a glaring omission in current Congressional Budget Office cost estimates of legislation: debt service. Any homebuyer would get an estimate of mortgage payments before purchasing a home; similarly Congress should have an accurate sense of the debt service costs on legislation before passing it. This legislation would require the inclusion of debt service costs into official scoring by CBO. Since this is a capability that the CBO has, it would not be an additional burden in terms of resources or complexity on its important work."
  
  
• [H.R. 6957, Debt-to-GDP Transparency Act, led by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)] "Why It's a No-Brainer: The ratio of national debt compared to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an important metric for understanding the fiscal health of a nation's economy and budget. Similar to a family's credit card debt relative to its annual earnings, a debt-to-GDP ratio demonstrates the ability of a nation to pay back its debts. A higher debt-to-GDP ratio indicates that a nation is approaching its financial limits and could be more likely to default. This legislation would ensure that the President's budget submitted annually to Congress includes this key metric. More awareness on the current state of America's debt-to-GDP ratio, which is around 120 percent, should help Congress and the public better understand the dire trajectory of the nation's debt crisis."
  
  
• [H.R. 8343, Enhancing Improper Payment Accountability Act, led by Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT)] "Why It's a No-Brainer: This bill would codify some of the Government Accountability Office's recommendations to better secure payments from new programs that issue over $100 million in payments per year. These programs would be subjected to more stringent reporting requirements and this legislation would require reports of anti-fraud controls and fraud risk management to Congress. It would also require the President's budget to include information on high-risk programs that aren't fulfilling their requirements."

More from the House Budget Committee:

Read what they are saying about H.R. 8341, the Cost Estimates Improvement Act HERE.

Read what they are saying about H.R. 8342, the Improper Payments Transparency Act HERE.

Read what they are saying about H.R. 8343, the Enhancing Improper Payment Accountability Act HERE.

Read about the first bipartisan House Budget Committee bill to unanimously pass both chambers in history HERE.