In this year’s lame duck session, National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is happy to present its 14th annual “No Brainers” list of legislative reforms that can unite lawmakers across the political spectrum.
Each bill would be a boon for taxpayers and must meet three key criteria:
1) It has support from both Democrats and Republicans
2) It has not appeared on a previous NTU “No Brainers” list
3) It is a sensible way to address a real problem that taxpayers face.
Each bill below shows that there can be wide agreement on effective solutions to various issues when partisan politics are set aside.
Here are the ten “no-brainer” bills of our 14th annual list in no specific order.
Save Our Seniors Act
Bill Number(s): S. 3972 / H.R. 6853
Lead Sponsors/Cosponsors: Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA)
Why It’s a No-Brainer: Social Security is one of the largest federal programs, far overshadowing the annual discretionary budget. Under this bill, the fiscal health of this important benefit would be included in ten-year economic outlooks produced annually by the Congressional Budget Office. This crucial data should be top of mind for all policymakers and this legislation would help ensure that Social Security’s financial stability remains a priority.
Electronic Communication Uniformity Act/Tax Administration Simplification Act
Bill Number(s): S.1338 / H.R. 8864
Lead Sponsors/Cosponsors: Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL), Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL)
Why It’s a No-Brainer: This legislation would provide that electronically filed documents and payments would be considered as filed on the date they are submitted, not the date the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) receives them. Currently, documents and payments submitted to the IRS by mail are considered as filed based on the postmark, not the date received. This does not apply to electronically submitted documents. The discrepancy between filing by mail versus filing electronically punishes taxpayers who file digital submissions. This legislation would equalize electronic filing rules with the “mailbox rule” for paper returns. Extending the mailbox rule to electronically submitted documents would level the playing field for taxpayers who submit online. It would also encourage greater use of digital submissions, which are less costly to the IRS. This would benefit taxpayers and reduce administrative costs.
Financial Management Risk Reduction Act
Bill Number(s): S. 4716
Lead Sponsors/Cosponsors: Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI)
Why It’s a No-Brainer: This legislation would compel the federal government to conduct a broad review of single audit quality. Single audits are a primary tool for ensuring taxpayer funds are being spent in a responsible manner. Improper payments are a government-wide problem and this would help cut down on at least one driver of mismanagement of taxpayer funds.
No Budget, No Recess Act
Bill Number(s): H.R. 9999
Lead Sponsors/Cosponsors: Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX), Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-IL)
Why It’s a No-Brainer: This bill would incentivize passing a budget resolution by preventing members of Congress from traveling to their districts using taxpayer funds. Without a budget, Congress has no framework to set appropriation bills’ priorities and toplines. Annual budgets would ensure that Congress properly analyzes the fiscal state of the nation and sets its priorities accordingly. This legislation would add some teeth to the current budget process, which is sometimes foregone by Congress.
Improving IRS Customer Service Act
Bill Number(s): S. 5280
Lead Sponsors/Cosponsors: Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Why It’s a No-Brainer: The IRS has long had issues with customer service and this bill seeks to address some of these issues by establishing a dashboard to easily view current backlog and wait times, add call back capabilities for phone queries, and see more information about the status of tax returns. Customer service should be the IRS’ top priority, since the tax gap is better addressed by education than aggressive enforcement.
Improper Payment Transparency Act
Bill Number(s): H.R. 8342
Lead Sponsors/Cosponsors: Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-IN), Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA)
Why It’s a No-Brainer: Improper payments take taxpayer funds away from their intended use. Understanding the problem by requiring the President’s budget request to include detailed information on improper payments will help fix this. More transparency regarding improper payments and information about how agencies are attempting to combat these wasteful practices will allow Congress to better course correct in the future.
The Cost Estimates Improvement Act
Bill Number(s): H.R. 8341
Lead Sponsors/Cosponsors: Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX), Rep. Ed Case (D-HI), Rep. Daniel Meuser (R-PA), Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA)
Why It’s a No-Brainer: This bill would remove a glaring omission in current Congressional Budget Office cost estimates of legislation: debt service. Any homebuyer would get an estimate of mortgage payments before purchasing a home; similarly Congress should have an accurate sense of the debt service costs on legislation before passing it. This legislation would require the inclusion of debt service costs into official scoring by CBO. Since this is a capability that the CBO has, it would not be an additional burden in terms of resources or complexity on its important work.
Debt-To-GDP Transparency Act
Bill Number(s): H.R. 6957
Lead Sponsors/Cosponsors: Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME)
Why It’s a No-Brainer: The ratio of national debt compared to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an important metric for understanding the fiscal health of a nation’s economy and budget. Similar to a family’s credit card debt relative to its annual earnings, a debt-to-GDP ratio demonstrates the ability of a nation to pay back its debts. A higher debt-to-GDP ratio indicates that a nation is approaching its financial limits and could be more likely to default. This legislation would ensure that the President’s budget submitted annually to Congress includes this key metric. More awareness on the current state of America’s debt-to-GDP ratio, which is around 120 percent, should help Congress and the public better understand the dire trajectory of the nation’s debt crisis.
Enhancing Improper Payment Accountability Act
Bill Number(s): H.R. 8343
Lead Sponsors/Cosponsors: Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA)
Why It’s a No-Brainer: This bill would codify some of the Government Accountability Office’s recommendations to better secure payments from new programs that issue over $100 million in payments per year. These programs would be subjected to more stringent reporting requirements and this legislation would require reports of anti-fraud controls and fraud risk management to Congress. It would also require the President’s budget to include information on high-risk programs that aren’t fulfilling their requirements.
Energy Permitting Reform Act
Bill Number(s): S. 1869
Lead Sponsors/Cosponsors: Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Senator John Barrasso (R-WY)
Why It’s a No-Brainer: This legislation would enact a number of reforms to the energy permitting process that currently slows development and discourages domestic investment. The bill would create a “shot clock” on judicial review, streamline environmental studies, require offshore lease sales at least once per year for different types of energy, and implement other impactful reforms.