National Taxpayers Union (NTU) praised Congress Tuesday for passing two important taxpayer-friendly bills and urged President Joe Biden to sign both bills into law.
The first bill, the No Congressionally Obligated Recurring Revenue Used As Pensions To Incarcerated Officials Now Act (No CORRUPTION Act), sponsored by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Rick Scott (R-FL), closes a loophole that allows lawmakers convicted of corruption to continue to receive pension payouts during the often-lengthy appeals process.
The No CORRUPTION Act would solve this problem by changing the pension-stripping provision to start upon initial conviction rather than final conviction. If an appeal is successful, the money halted by the No CORRUPTION Act would be paid back in full. This way, taxpayer money is not given away to felons, and the rights of the taxpayer and the rights of the accused are balanced.
“Thanks to the decades-long work of NTU and its research arm, one of the most offensive taxpayer-funded ethics loopholes in Washington may finally be closed. President Biden should respect the bipartisan will of Congress by signing this bill into law,” Pete Sepp, President of National Taxpayers Union, said.
Learn the full history of the No CORRUPTION Act.
The second bill, the Financial Management Risk Reduction Act, sponsored by Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Ron Johnson (R-WI), mandates a comprehensive review of federal single audit quality to reduce improper payments. Single audits are a primary tool for ensuring that taxpayer funds are being spent in a responsible manner.
“Improper payments are a government-wide problem and this bill will help throttle back at least one driver of mismanagement of taxpayer funds,” Sepp said.
The Financial Management Risk Reduction Act was included in NTU’s annual “No Brainers” Report. To be included on the “No Brainers” list, bills should receive bipartisan support, provide a sensible solution to a real taxpayer issue, and not appear on a previous “No Brainers” list.
Nine other “No Brainers” bills remain for Congress to pass:
Save Our Seniors Act would require the Congressional Budget Office to include Social Security’s fiscal health in ten-year economic outlooks.
Electronic Communication Uniformity Act would standardize filing dates for electronic and paper tax documents, ensuring equal treatment for digital submissions.
No Budget, No Recess Act would restrict congressional travel funding if an annual budget resolution is not passed, incentivizing budget negotiations.
Improving IRS Customer Service Act aims to enhance taxpayer experience by creating a dashboard tracking service backlogs and wait times.
Improper Payment Transparency Act would require detailed reporting on government agencies’ improper payment issues in the president’s budget request.
Cost Estimates Improvement Act would compel the Congressional Budget Office to include debt service costs in legislative financial assessments.
Debt-to-GDP Transparency Act would mandate inclusion of the national debt-to-GDP ratio in the president’s annual budget submission.
Enhancing Improper Payment Accountability Act would strengthen reporting requirements for government payment programs exceeding $100 million annually.
- Energy Permitting Reform Act seeks to streamline domestic energy project development by reforming judicial review and environmental study processes.
“These ‘no-brainer’ bills show that there’s plenty of agreement on effective solutions for taxpayers when we put politics aside,” Sepp said.