Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), John McCain (R-AZ), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) have introduced a major earmark reform bill to cut down on wasteful government spending. The bipartisan group introduced the Fiscal Discipline, Earmark Reform, and Accountability Act of 2009, which would take aggressive steps to prevent unauthorized earmarks in appropriations bills. The bill would also add transparency to the appropriations process by requiring all appropriations conference reports be made electronically searchable 48 hours before the Senate considers them for a vote. The bill would also require recipients of federal funding to disclose any money spent on lobbyists.
“People across the country are watching their budgets in these tough economic times and Congress should do the same,” Feingold said. “While we’ve made some progress in requiring disclosure of earmarks, stronger reforms are needed. Congress should recognize the widespread support of people across the political spectrum for reining in wasteful spending and enact the reforms necessary to ensure taxpayer dollars are well spent.”
“American families are suffering during these tough economic times, and it’s important now, more than ever, that Congress restores fiscal discipline to Washington and gets our financial house in order,” said Senator McCain. “We have an obligation to the American people to rein in wasteful spending. The process is broken and it needs to be fixed. It is abundantly clear that the time has come for us to eliminate the corrupt, wasteful practice of earmarking.”
“We are looking at deficits in the trillions, and I think Americans are fed up with the way Washington has been spending their money. Changing the earmark culture is not the whole solution to bringing fiscal responsibility back, but it’s a start,” McCaskill said.
“The time for changing the earmarking system is now. The process has been abused terribly and is one of the major reasons Congress is in such low standing with the American people. It has led to wasteful, and at times offensive, spending of taxpayer dollars. Our reform proposal will improve how we spend taxpayer dollars. It creates a sense of accountability that is painfully lacking in the current system. I am proud to be a part of this effort,” Graham said.
“Congress has a nine percent approval rating because broken processes like the earmark process have caused us to lose the trust and confidence of the American people. I’m proud to join my colleagues in both parties in offering strong earmark reforms that will help bring about the changes in government the American people are demanding,” said Dr. Coburn.
The Fiscal Discipline, Earmark Reform, and Accountability Act of 2009 has three provisions:
- Establishes a point of order against unauthorized earmarks on appropriations bills. To overcome that point of order, supporters of the unauthorized earmark will need to obtain a 60-vote super-majority in the Senate. As a further deterrent, the bill provides that any earmarked funding which is successfully stricken from the appropriations bill will be unavailable for other spending in that bill, i.e., the overall spending level of the bill will be reduced by the amount of the stricken earmark.
- Closes a loophole in last year’s Lobbying and Ethics Reform bill by requiring all appropriations conference reports and all authorizing conference reports to be electronically searchable 48 hours before the Senate considers the conference report. While the Lobbying and Ethics Reform bill required most bills to be electronically searchable before Senate consideration, that requirement did not apply to conference reports. Thus, earmarks slipped into conference reports were not made public.
- Requires all recipients of federal funds to disclose any money spent on registered lobbyists.
S. 162, the Fiscal Discipline, Earmark Reform, and Accountability Act
Sponsored by Senators Feingold, McCain, McCaskill, Graham and Coburn
- Seeks to eliminate unauthorized earmarks and wasteful spending in appropriations bills and conference reports—
It would amend the Senate Rules to allow points of order to be raised against unauthorized appropriations (earmarks), and policy riders in appropriations bills and conference reports in an effort to rein in wasteful pork barrel spending.
Under the proposal, unless a point of order is waived by the affirmative vote of 60, the unauthorized provision would be extracted from the measure and the overall cost of the bill would be reduced by the corresponding amount.
If a point of order is sustained against a provision in a conference report, that provision also would be stricken, but under the new rule, the legislative process could continue in a manner whereby the conference report would revert to a non-amendable Senate amendment (which would be the conference agreement without the objectionable material), and the measure could then be sent back to the House.
The proposal would retain three exemptions that currently apply to amendments under Senate Rule XVI:
1. It would allow appropriations measures to include an appropriation that had been made to carry out the specific provisions of an existing law, or treaty stipulation.
2. It would allow an appropriation to be included if it is in the President’s budget request (this ensures that any unauthorized programs could continue to be funded if requested).
3. It would allow an appropriation to be included if such an appropriation is authorized in a bill passed by the Senate during that session of Congress.
- Requires all appropriations and authorization conference reports to be electronically searchable at least 48 hours before full Senate consideration.
- Requires the recipients of federal dollars to disclose any amounts that they expend on registered lobbyists.
