Home Mark Warner, Rand Paul introduce bill to reduce wasteful end-of-year federal spending
Politics

Mark Warner, Rand Paul introduce bill to reduce wasteful end-of-year federal spending

Chris Graham

congressU.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Rand Paul (R-KY) have teamed up on a bipartisan proposal to empower federal workers to identify and cut down on unnecessary federal spending. The Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2015, introduced today, would build on existing law by expanding a program that allows U.S. government inspectors general to reward federal employees with a bonus for finding and reporting wasteful or fraudulent spending.

Under the proposal, that program would be expanded to include “unneeded or surplus” end-of-year funds. Spending at federal agencies in the last week of the fiscal year is 4.9 times higher than the weekly average the rest of the year but research shows that the quality of spending is lower than the rest of the year. Under the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act, federal employees who identify unneeded or surplus funds will be eligible for a bonus worth 10 percent of the savings, up to $10,000.

“This bipartisan proposal encourages federal agencies to return unused funds instead of rushing to spend-down their appropriations at the end of every fiscal year,” said Sen. Warner. “When we empower federal employees to identify surplus funds instead of encouraging the ‘use it or lose it’ mentality, we are better stewards of taxpayers’ dollars.”

“Use it or lose it” is a well-known problem where government agencies race to spend unused budget authority before it expires at the end of a fiscal year, often on unneeded goods and services. Under the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act, federal employees on the front lines of government spending will have a personal incentive to save taxpayer money and counter the current end-of-year rush to exhaust all funds, while ninety percent of the identified savings will be redirected to the U.S. Treasury to reduce the deficit.

“Under the current law, federal employees have a perverse incentive to spend all of their agency’s annual budget before the end of the year, and subsequently, bonuses will reverse the incentive to the benefit of the employee and the taxpayer,” said Sen. Paul. “The Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act will reduce the federal deficit and reverse the trend toward agency bloat, by combating inefficiency and mismanagement of funds in the government.”

In addition to Sens. Warner and Paul, the bill was sponsored by Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Mike Enzi (R-WY).

National Taxpayers Union and Citizens Against Government Waste have endorsed the legislation.

A copy of the bill text is available here.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," a zero-time Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, and a member of zero Halls of Fame, is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].

Latest News

Sports Betting

How To Bet On UFC 318 In Missouri

Sports Betting

How To Bet On UFC 318 In South Carolina

UFC 318 is set for Saturday, July 19, 2025, and South Carolina fight fans are looking for legal ways to bet on Max Holloway vs Dustin Poirier 3. While the state hasn’t launched licensed sportsbooks yet, you can still bet online using internationally licensed platforms. These offshore sportsbooks accept players from South Carolina, offer fast...

Sports Betting

How To Bet On UFC 318 In North Carolina

UFC 318 is set to take place in New Orleans on Saturday, July 19, and fans across North Carolina are already looking for ways to bet on the trilogy fight between Max Holloway and Dustin Poirier. While online sports betting in North Carolina is limited to state-approved apps with geolocation checks, there’s another option. Offshore...

chris graham acc
Football

Summer football media daze: I’ve attended my last ACC Kickoff

Sports Betting

How To Bet On UFC 318 In Florida

crime scene tape
Public Safety, Virginia

Henry County: Body found in roadway, investigation points to homicide

UVA Health sign
Health, Local

UVA Health’s Melina Kibbe is sole finalist for UT Health Houston presidency