Oversight Committee Passes Two Lankford Bills to Reform Grant Process and Protect Communities from Unfunded Mandates
Statement
Two of Congressman Lankford's (R-OK) bills successfully passed in the Oversight and Government Reform Committee today. These reform bills increase transparency in the grant process and protect local communities and businesses from unfunded mandates.
The first bill was H.R. 373, the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act of 2011, originally introduced by Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC). This legislation will improve the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, as it has become clear that the law lacks serious teeth to protect state and local governments and the private sector from an overreaching federal government.
"Keeping the federal government off the backs of local communities and businesses is crucial for economic growth," said Congressman Lankford. "State and local governments already face enough problems in balancing their budgets, yet Washington keeps devising more requirements without supplying the money or resources to comply with these regulations. This legislation ensures new regulations are given a smart and thorough examination before implementation. It will protect state and local governments from spending even more money appeasing the federal government, allowing investment in projects that will best serve local communities and save taxpayer dollars to boost economic growth."
The second bill was H.R. 3433, the Grant Reform and New Transparency (GRANT) Act of 2011. This legislation will bring transparency to the $50 billion annual discretionary and federal grant programs.
"During a time of massive budget deficits, members of both parties came together today to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent in a wise and accountable manner," said Congressman Lankford. "The current process is too complex and operates with little transparency. With the federal government offering 1,670 grant programs annually, it should be required that the agencies leading these programs clearly disclose how grants are evaluated and awarded. This will help bring fairness for applicants going through the grant process and give taxpayers a greater level of transparency concerning how their tax dollars are spent."
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