Sen. Portman introduces dollar-for-dollar deficit reduction act
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced the Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act, legislation that would ensure that Congress reduces spending on a dollar-for-dollar basis when it raises the debt limit.
The reductions in spending would take place over a 10-year period, and since all spending reductions should be offset from within federal programs, additional savings to the interest on the debt would accrue after the 10-year period.
“If we’re going to raise the debt limit, we should also rein in spending and address our massive debt. That’s just common sense,” Portman said.
“Our current spending and debt levels are unsustainable. They threaten to drive up tax rates, reduce economic growth, and leave an increasingly heavy burden on future generations of Americans. This legislation would address this problem by requiring Congress to responsibly offset increases in the debt limit with spending reductions over a 10-year period.”
Portman introduced the bill with five original co-sponsors, including Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), and Mike Lee (R-UT). The debt limit has provided Congress with an opportunity to make key policy changes that rein in the expanding national debt. For example, the 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, which helped reduce the deficit, was attached to a debt limit bill. The three largest deficit reductions bills in the 1990s – in 1990, 1993, and 1997 – were each linked to debt limit legislation, as was the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. Finally, the debt limit was the impetus for the 2011 Budget Control Act, estimated to save $2.1 trillion over the decade. In short, nearly every significant deficit reduction law of the past 30 years has been linked to a debt limit debate.
The Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act will make the “dollar-for-dollar” rule a permanent debt-limit policy to ensure that any increase in the debt limit corresponds with spending cuts. In addition, the bill will:
• Require the Treasury Secretary to notify Congress 60 calendar days before the debt limit is to be reached and extraordinary measures undertaken.
• Require that any presidential request to raise the debt limit be accompanied by a proposal to cut non-interest spending by an equal or greater amount over the next decade.
• Require that any legislation to increase the debt limit include non-interest spending cuts of an equal or greater amount over the next decade, subject to a point of order.
• Prohibit the use of timing shifts and expiring emergency spending to reach the spending savings target.
• Reduce spending by $2.5 trillion over the next decade, and more than $5 trillion over the following decade.
• Reduce spending below 23.4 percent to 20.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2027.
• Cut the projected deficit in half by 2027.
The reductions in spending would take place over a 10-year period, and since all spending reductions should be offset from within federal programs, additional savings to the interest on the debt would accrue after the 10-year period.
“If we’re going to raise the debt limit, we should also rein in spending and address our massive debt. That’s just common sense,” Portman said.
“Our current spending and debt levels are unsustainable. They threaten to drive up tax rates, reduce economic growth, and leave an increasingly heavy burden on future generations of Americans. This legislation would address this problem by requiring Congress to responsibly offset increases in the debt limit with spending reductions over a 10-year period.”
Portman introduced the bill with five original co-sponsors, including Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), and Mike Lee (R-UT). The debt limit has provided Congress with an opportunity to make key policy changes that rein in the expanding national debt. For example, the 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, which helped reduce the deficit, was attached to a debt limit bill. The three largest deficit reductions bills in the 1990s – in 1990, 1993, and 1997 – were each linked to debt limit legislation, as was the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010. Finally, the debt limit was the impetus for the 2011 Budget Control Act, estimated to save $2.1 trillion over the decade. In short, nearly every significant deficit reduction law of the past 30 years has been linked to a debt limit debate.
The Dollar-for-Dollar Deficit Reduction Act will make the “dollar-for-dollar” rule a permanent debt-limit policy to ensure that any increase in the debt limit corresponds with spending cuts. In addition, the bill will:
• Require the Treasury Secretary to notify Congress 60 calendar days before the debt limit is to be reached and extraordinary measures undertaken.
• Require that any presidential request to raise the debt limit be accompanied by a proposal to cut non-interest spending by an equal or greater amount over the next decade.
• Require that any legislation to increase the debt limit include non-interest spending cuts of an equal or greater amount over the next decade, subject to a point of order.
• Prohibit the use of timing shifts and expiring emergency spending to reach the spending savings target.
• Reduce spending by $2.5 trillion over the next decade, and more than $5 trillion over the following decade.
• Reduce spending below 23.4 percent to 20.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2027.
• Cut the projected deficit in half by 2027.