Taxpayers Tab: John Kasich, Bobby Jindal Analyses

John Kasich: Focus on Balanced Budget, Spending Cuts

John Kasich kicked off his campaign for the GOP’s Presidential nomination this week during a speech in Columbus, Ohio, making him the 16th Republican to enter the race. Kasich began his career in public service as a member of the Ohio Senate in 1979; in 1983, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and served as Chairman of the House Budget Committee from 1995 until leaving office in 2001. He then worked as a political commentator for Fox News and as an investment banker with Lehman Brothers before being elected Governor of Ohio in 2010.

NTU Foundation’s BillTally project began tracking Congressional spending agendas in 1991, including data for then-Representative Kasich. Some of the highlights from our analysis of that information:

• From 1991 until 2001, Kasich supported legislation that would, on net, reduce federal spending by an average of $31.9 billion per year.

• During that same time, the average Republican Member of the House would have reduced spending by just under $5 billion per year. Kasich proposed more net savings than the average House Republicans in every year.

• Kasich was a prominent supporter of balancing the federal budget. He cosponsored H.R. 4000, the Spending Reduction Enforcement Act of 1994, which would have reduced outlays by $65 billion per year until a balanced budget was reached.

• In the 106th Congress, Kasich supported legislation that would have dismantled both the Department of Energy (then a $4.4 billion savings) and Commerce (a $1.3 billion cut at the time). His Department of Defense Acquisition Management Reform Act of 1995 (H.R. 1368 in the 104th Congress) was estimated to save $3.98 billion

• The most expensive legislation that Kasich supported and for which NTUF recorded a cost estimate was H.R. 300 in the 103rd Congress. That bill would have scrapped the limitation on outside income that Social Security recipients could earn before their payments were reduced. It would have increased federal spending by $5.3 billion per year.

Jindal’s Legislative Agenda Leads to Net Increases

Highlights from the data include:

• Out of all the legislation that Jindal supported while in Congress, NTUF identified two that would decrease federal spending, by a total of $204 million.

• On average, Rep. Jindal supported $36 billion in spending increases per year. He sponsored or cosponsored an average of 61.5 increase bills for every savings proposal.

• The most expensive legislation that Jindal supported as a Representative was H.R. 821, the EDUCATE Act, introduced in the 110th Congress. That bill would have authorized $9.8 billion in additional funding for programs in the Americans with Disabilities Education Act.

• Jindal also supported legislation that increased the government’s borrowing authority for the National Flood Insurance Program, at a net cost of $5 billion per year. Jindal’s home state of Louisiana was, of course, impacted heavily by flooding from Hurricane Katrina.

• While in Congress Jindal supported two bills that would reduce federal spending. The least expensive of the two, H.R. 562 (110th Congress), would have adjusted the Medicare payment rates and criteria for long-term care hospitals and saved $200 million per year. The other – H.R. 4200, introduced in the 109th Congress – would have saved $4 million per year by amending the ways in which the government funds reforestation efforts.

For more on BillTally and the 2016 Presidential campaign, head to ntu.org/foundation.