Two Ernst-Backed Transparency Bills Advance With Unanimous, Bipartisan Support

WASHINGTON – With Sunshine Week coming to a close, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) had two transparency and government accountability bills she’s backing advance in the Senate with unanimous, bipartisan support. One bill will help prevent duplicative and wasteful federal programs while the other will allow for more information about government spending to be accessible to the public.

 

“In Washington, there’s no shortage of waste and duplicative government programs—always at the expense of the American taxpayer. We certainly need to cut the fat and get rid of unneeded federal programs, but, at the very least, hardworking taxpayers have a right to know where and how their money is being spent. These two bills will go a long way in cutting down on waste and shining light on the tax dollars being spent, and I’m pleased Democrats and Republicans agreed to move them forward,” said Senator Joni Ernst.

 

Ernst is an original cosponsor of the Duplication Reduction and Scoring Act and the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act, which both passed out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee this week.

 

The Duplication Reduction and Scoring Act

The bill directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review each piece of legislation reported out of a committee to determine if it poses a risk of producing more duplication in areas of government where the GAO has already identified such problems in one of its duplication reports.

 

The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act

This bill would put in place a requirement that agencies’ budget justifications are publicly available on a centralized website, as well as on each agency’s own website.