Senators Hassan, Paul Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Save Taxpayer Dollars and Eliminate Duplicative Government Programs
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Chairman of the Subcommittee, introduced bipartisan legislation to save taxpayer dollars and eliminate duplicative government programs.
The bill responds to recommendations for congressional action issued by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office in its annual report on duplicative and wasteful government programs.
“Our constituents expect us to do everything that we can to save taxpayer dollars and increase government efficiency, and that’s exactly what this commonsense bill does,” said Senator Hassan. “I am glad to work across the aisle on this bill that will ensure that Congress follows through on recommendations made by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office.”
“Each year, the Government Accountability Office identifies millions of dollars wasted on duplication and fragmentation. I’m happy to work with Senator Hassan for the second year in a row to try to implement some of the Government Accountability Office's money-saving recommendations from their annual duplication report,” said Senator Paul.
The bipartisan bill will save taxpayer dollars by reducing duplication, fragmentation, and overlap.
IRS Third-Party Information Security
The bill calls on the IRS to centralize oversight and strengthen security of taxpayer information held by third-party tax preparers and software providers that Americans work with to file their taxes.
Currently, seven IRS offices are responsible for managing various aspects of taxpayer information security. The bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury to set information security standards that third-party tax preparers and software providers must follow and requires the IRS Commissioner to coordinate and consolidate all aspects of the IRS’ efforts to keep taxpayers’ information safe while it is in the hands of third parties.
Assessment of Navy Shipbuilding Costs
The bill requires the Navy to enact Government Accountability Office recommendations to save billions of dollars by identifying, evaluating, and mitigating ship maintenance concerns when it acquires warships.
The bill would require the Navy to submit a report to Congress within 180 days of identifying a critical operating and support cost estimate breach in a Navy major defense ship acquisition program, with a plan to decrease the estimated operating and support costs if possible.
Ginnie Mae Oversight
Ginnie Mae is the federal government corporation under the Department of Housing and Urban Development that guarantees timely payment of principal and interest on mortgage-backed securities that are issued by approved lenders and insured by the Federal Housing Administration.
The bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development to look at a number of ways to reform Ginnie Mae’s operations to save taxpayer dollars, including by evaluating whether the fee it charges to guarantee securities should be revised and if it should change its reliance on contractors in order to be more efficient. The bill also requests that the Government Accountability Office evaluate if Congress should reform Ginnie Mae’s oversight and governance structure, as it does not currently have an independent board or regulatory agency overseeing its work.
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