TPA Joins Coalition Effort Urging Spending Reform in Budget Conference

It’s been just a few weeks since Congress passed a budget, and in that time TPA has been watching to see what will happen next. Just this week, both the House and Senate voted to set up a conference on the budget so that each Chamber’s version can be formed into one that can be voted on for final passage.  Although Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) recognized some positive reforms sought after in the budget resolution, there continue to be problems for taxpayers. Right now the key issue is in the Pentagon spending portion and specifically the money in the House version allocated for the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) Account. Last week, TPA joined a coalition effort led by Taxpayers for Common Sense urging the conferees to adhere to a Senate point of order “against Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) spending that exceeds the generous level included in the budget request, roughly $58 billion.” The letter was also signed by Campaign for Liberty, Coalition to Reduce Spending, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, National Taxpayers Union, Niskanen Center, and R Street Institute. TPA will be watching the conference closely and will keep you updated as more develops.

Read the letter below:

April 14, 2015

Representative Tom Price, M.D.
Committee on the Budget
U.S. House of Representatives
207 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Price:

We understand you are conferencing the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Budget Resolution. On behalf of the undersigned organizations and our combined memberships, we urge you to recede to the Senate position regarding the point of order against Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) spending that exceeds the generous level included in the budget request, roughly $58 billion.

We recently wrote to you urging the Committee to mark a resolution that maintained the budget caps and savings promised to taxpayers under the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011. As we wrote at that time, BCA spending levels for FY16 – in both defense and non-defense discretionary spending – actually exceed the levels enacted for FY15. The President’s proposal to jettison the caps and increase Pentagon spending by roughly $35 billion more than the approximately half trillion dollars set by the BCA is fiscally irresponsible and unnecessary. Although some have maligned the BCA, its budget caps have effectively curbed excessive spending. Any modification must be done in a way that keeps promises made to taxpayers. Fiscal discipline is needed across the federal government and that includes defense spending.

We are disappointed that the final House and Senate Budget Resolutions increased the already generous $58 billion ($51 billion for the Pentagon and $7 billion for the State Department) requested for the emergency OCO account. The account in both versions of the resolution is now $96 billion. OCO has already gained a reputation as a slush fund as more and more base budget items are being funded through this “off budget” account, this boost will only serve to burnish that reputation.

The Senate version of the Budget Resolution includes a point of order against OCO funding that exceeds the President’s Budget Request of $58 billion. We ask that the House recede to the Senate on this issue, so that lawmakers would have the opportunity for an up or down vote on this attempt to avoid the Budget Control Act restrictions.

Sincerely,

Campaign for Liberty
Coalition to Reduce Spending
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
National Taxpayers Union
Niskanen Center
R Street Institute
Taxpayers for Common Sense
Taxpayers Protection Alliance