Sen. Voinovich Co-Sponsors "Stop Over-Spending" Bill

Press Release

SEN. VOINOVICH CO-SPONSORS "STOP OVER-SPENDING" BILL

U.S. Senator George V. Voinovich (R-OH), the Senate's top "deficit hawk," signed on as an original co-sponsor of The Stop Over-Spending Act of 2007 ("S.O.S."), legislation introduced by the Republican leadership today to counter the Democrats' budget resolution passed by the Senate and the House last week. The "S.O.S." legislation includes several provisions aimed at putting the nation on solid fiscal footing, including three proposals inspired by bills introduced by Sen. Voinovich earlier this year.

"The Democrats continue to pass the buck on real budgeting and responsible spending," Sen. Voinovich said. "These reckless fiscal policies affect our ability to fight the War on Terror, interfere with our efforts to maintain and improve our infrastructure and hurt our competitiveness in the global marketplace. The fact is, America's fiscal situation is dire and getting worse by the day. There is a growing storm on the horizon threatening to overwhelm our economy and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer. Nothing can be off the table when it comes to ensuring our nation's long-term prosperity for future generations."

Sen. Voinovich has been a long-time advocate of fiscal responsibility. As mayor of Cleveland and governor of Ohio, he faced deficits and dealt with them by trimming spending and making the tough decisions necessary to put Cleveland and the state back in the black. Bringing what he learned from those experiences to the Senate, he has consistently asked his colleagues to be intellectually honest about America's fiscal situation.

Three of the seven provisions included in the "S.O.S." bill reflect proposals introduced by Sen. Voinovich earlier this year. The first aims to convert the annual budget cycle into a biennial - or two year - cycle. This would save Congress valuable time eaten up every year debating appropriations matters and allow it to focus on oversight of the programs being funded.

The second and third provisions establish two bi-partisan commissions - one to study the accountability and efficiency of government programs (in a manner similar to the BRAC Commission) and one to examine and provide solutions to the impending entitlement crisis, as unfunded entitlement obligations now total $69 trillion (about $440,000 per American household.) These commissions are very similar to one proposed by Sen. Voinovich in his Securing America's Future Economy (SAFE) Act of 2007, which would establish a national commission to examine our tax and entitlement systems and present long-term solutions to place the United States on a fiscally sustainable course and ensure the solvency of entitlement programs for future generations.

Overall, the "S.O.S." bill:

* Reinstates statutory caps on discretionary spending (and the use of burgeoning "emergency" spending), enforceable by an across-the-board sequester if Congress fails to adhere to the caps;
* Creates an automatic deficit reduction mechanism to balance the budget by 2012 - mandatory reconciliation procedures to slow the rate of growth for entitlement programs if Congress fails to meet deficit reduction targets;
* Allows a President to target wasteful spending, ask that it be rescinded, and send it up to Congress for expedited consideration, although Congress retains final power of the purse;
* Creates a point of order against new direct spending that is triggered when the Medicare program is projected to become insolvent in 7 years or less for two consecutive years. Due to skyrocketing health care costs and an aging population, Medicare is projected to be the first of the large entitlement programs to become insolvent;
* Creates a bi-partisan commission to study the accountability and efficiency of government programs (in a manner similar to the BRAC Commission);
* Creates a bi-partisan commission to examine and provide solutions to the impending entitlement crisis, as unfunded entitlement obligations now total $69 trillion over 75 years; and
* Strengthens and improves the budget resolution and reconciliation processes.

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