Dr. Rand Paul Puts Expiration Date on Government Programs with Reintroduced Bill

Press Release

Recently, U.S. Senator Rand Paul continued his work to promote fiscal responsibility by reintroducing his Legislative Performance Review Act (S. 1583), which requires Congress to regularly review federal programs to either improve them or otherwise consolidate or eliminate duplicative and wasteful efforts.

The legislation places an expiration date on all authorizations in order to force government to properly evaluate results and provide specific reauthorizations for its uses of taxpayer funds.

"As our national debt rapidly closes in on $20 trillion, we should, at the very least, acknowledge that government should not automatically fund programs without regard for performance or continued need," said Dr. Paul. "Passing this bill is one of the easiest, most common-sense steps we can take to make Congress a better steward of the American people's money."

According to the Congressional Budget Office in 2016, "On average, over the past decade, about one-fourth of total discretionary appropriations were provided for programs and activities whose explicit authorizations of appropriations had expired."[1] The CBO went on to note that its UAEA report concerning fiscal year 2016 found "that $310 billion--about one-quarter of discretionary appropriations in 2016-- was provided for programs and activities whose explicit authorization of appropriations had expired and whose appropriations could be identified."[2]

You can view the bill HERE, and you can find summary information below.

Dr. Paul's Legislative Performance Review Act, S. 1583:

Causes authorizers to regularly review program performance by limiting all authorizations to four years.
Allows authorizing committees to request - by resolution - longer authorizations for specific programs in their jurisdiction if they believe a longer review period is more appropriate.
Institutes an orderly "wind down" over a two-year period if programs' authorization expires.
Requires committees to utilize existing Government Performance and Results Act data, Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports (including the duplication report), Inspector General information, and other evidence of program performance.
Asks authorizers to justify new programs and state the problem to be solved through them.
Creates a point of order against any provision in an appropriations bill that funds a program for a fiscal year in which it is not authorized.
The point of order only strikes the offending text, not the whole bill.
The point of order may be waived by a 3/5th vote in the Senate.

Source