This week, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., announced his “No Budget No Pay Act” has been listed on the 13th annual National Taxpayers Union’s (NTU) “No-Brainers” list.
The annual “No-Brainers” list includes ten pieces of legislation that have garnered bipartisan and widespread support. Scott’s legislation would mandate that members of Congress must fulfill their basic job requirements and pass the annual budget resolutions and appropriations bills on time, or forgo their taxpayer-funded salaries. Joining Scott in the introduction of this legislation are U.S. Sens. Mike Braun, R-Ind., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Joe Manchin, D-WV, Maggie Hassan, D-NH, Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV, Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Katie Britt, R-Ala.
Earlier this Congress, following the bill’s reintroduction, Scott said, “Our nation is over $31 trillion in debt after years of Washington failing the American people and shirking its responsibility of passing a real, balanced budget that prioritizes the needs of American families. Now more than ever, we need to bring fiscal sanity back to Washington, and that starts with holding Congress accountable to do one of its most basic duties: passing a budget. There is no reason members of Congress should be held to a different standard than any other American family or business. In the real world, if you don’t do your job, you don’t get paid. Our No Budget, No Pay bill simply requires Congress to pass an annual budget and meet appropriations bill deadlines, or forgo their taxpayer-funded salaries until the job is done.”
National Taxpayers Union Senior Policy and Government Affairs Manager Nick Johns said, “Congress can seem more divided ideologically than ever today, but the bipartisan legislation highlighted in this year’s No-Brainers list shows that members of both parties can agree on issues that make a difference in the lives of taxpayers. If Congressional leadership prioritizes these bills and proposals like them, it would go a long way toward improving taxpayers’ views on the functionality of government and restoring some faith in our governing institutions.”
NTU uses three key criteria when choosing legislation for this list: the bill must have bipartisan support, feature common sense solutions to address real problems taxpayers face, and cannot have appeared on a previous year’s “No-Brainers” list.
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