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House
Budget Committee Approves Ryan’s Line-Item Veto Legislation
Proposal to Target Wasteful Spending is Scheduled for House Floor Next Week
WASHINGTON – The House Budget Committee today voted by a bipartisan 24-9 to approve the Legislative Line-Item Veto Act of 2006, introduced by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan
(R.-Wis.) to enable the President and Congress to work together to target wasteful and unnecessary spending items in bills that have passed Congress and improve transparency and accountability for spending requests. This legislation is on track to come to the House floor for a vote next week.
Under this legislation, the President would have the authority to single out individual pork-barrel spending items in legislation that arrives on his desk for signature and send these specific line items back to Congress for a timely up-or-down vote on whether to rescind these spending provisions. Likewise, the President would be able to request the rescission of targeted, narrow special-interest tax breaks.
In contrast to the President’s current rescission authority, which Congress can choose to ignore, the legislative line-item veto will ensure that Congress votes on the President’s rescission request within 14 legislative days after receiving the request. This expedited timeframe will make the legislative line-item veto a useful tool for controlling spending, while shining light on the spending process and subjecting questionable items to a vote on their own merits – apart from larger legislation.
“This proposal makes Congress more accountable for the spending it proposes, which will help us eliminate unjustifiable pork-barrel projects and exercise greater care with taxpayer dollars,” Ryan said. “We have also made certain it adheres to the Constitution and keeps the power of the purse in Congress, as our nation’s founders intended.”
“This initiative is one part of our drive to bring greater transparency, accountability and common-sense restraint to the federal budget process. Together with earmark reforms, better budgeting for emergency spending, a sunset commission and other steps to control spending, our legislative line-item veto is part of our effort this year to get rid of waste and abuse in government,” Ryan said.
This proposal preserves Congress’ power of the purse under the Constitution and maintains the balance of power between Congress and the President by requiring the House and Senate to vote to approve the President’s proposed rescissions, before they can become law. (The version of the line-item veto that the Supreme Court struck down in 1998 did not require congressional approval of the President’s rescissions.)
Ryan initially introduced H.R. 4890, the Legislative Line-Item Veto Act of 2006, in the House on March 7, 2006. In the weeks that followed, this proposal was the subject of hearings in three House committees as well as consultations with constitutional lawyers, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and both Democratic and Republican Members of Congress. At today’s Budget Committee markup of the legislation, Ryan amended the legislation to take into account the input he has received throughout the course of hearings and discussions and ensure that the legislation adheres to its intent.
Among its provisions, as amended and approved by the House Budget Committee, the Legislative Line-Item Veto Act of 2006 would:
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Give the President the authority to propose the elimination of wasteful spending items or targeted special-interest tax breaks in legislation that he signs into law and send these specific items back to Congress for a timely vote on his rescission requests. The President would be required to submit his rescission request to Congress within 45 calendar days.
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Put the President’s rescission requests on a fast track guaranteeing consideration by the full House and Senate within 14 total legislative days after receipt of the President’s request.
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Respect and preserve Congress’ constitutional power of the purse, as each proposed rescission would require an up-or-down vote in the full House and Senate before the rescissions can become law.
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Permit the President to decline to spend the relevant funds for up to 90 days, to ensure adequate time for Congress to act on his rescission proposals, particularly in the event that Congress enters a recess.
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Clarify that duplicative requests by the President are prohibited and limit the number of rescission requests per bill to five (or ten in the case of an omnibus bill.) It is important to note that one presidential rescission request may include a package of line-items that are recommended for removal, rather than just one single line-item provision.
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Ensure that the President can use this rescission authority to propose the removal of wasteful spending items, not as a tool to strike down policy provisions.
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Sunset in six years, after two presidential administrations have had the opportunity to use it as a tool to control spending. This six-year sunset provision would give Congress the ability to review this legislation and decide whether to renew it.
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Contact: Kate
Matus (202) 226-7326
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