Case announces re-introduction of Sustainable Budget Act

Democratic Hawaiʻi Congressman Ed Case has teamed up with Arizona Republican Steve Womack and other lawmakers in a bipartisan push to re-introduce the Sustainable Budget Act.

The pair introduced the measure in the 116th Congress, and they’re doing so, again, in the 117th. They’re being joined by Democratic California Rep. Scott Peters and Iowa Republican Zach Nunn.

“By any measure, our federal fiscal house is out of order, said Case, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and a former member of the House Budget Committee.

“The U.S. national debt now stands at over $36 trillion, with interest on the debt crowding out whole segments of critical federal spending,” Case said. “We appear trapped in a continuing cycle of further $1 trillion-plus annual deficits and accelerating overall debt. Our annual interest costs now surpass national defense, surpass Medicare, and surpass all non-mandatory, non-defense programs (veterans, education, transportation, etc.) combined.”

Case also said: “It is inescapable that the underlying problem is our collective inability or unwillingness to prioritize fiscal responsibility and sustainability. Whether it is budgets, taxes, spending, PAYGO or any other element of our fiscal debate and decisions, the result is the same: an avoidance of sound budgetary principles and practices and further deterioration of our nation’s finances.”

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said: “We commend Representatives Case and Womack, along with co-introducers Representatives Peters and Nunn, for working together in a bipartisan fashion to put forward the Sustainable Budget Act. This legislation would create a commission to serve as a venue for constructive bipartisan negotiations to improve our country’s fiscal future. We applaud them for introducing this bill to pursue bipartisan solutions to reduce our nation’s debt.”

Case and Womack said their Sustainable Budget Act will create a bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, charged with identifying and developing policies to balance the budget within 10 years and meaningfully improve the long-term fiscal outlook. Any recommendations by the Commission would be required to be considered and voted on by Congress under expedited legislative procedures.

“This measure follows the models of Simpson-Bowles and other such independent bipartisan commissions, charged with focusing on our debt and recommending a sustainable path for an up-or-down vote by Congress,” Case said. “In a Congress where we often repeat the platitude that our budget reflects our values, it is disturbing that the main common value reflected is fiscal unsustainability ranging to irresponsibility. We frankly need help to force the real decisions that must be made, and our measure offers a necessary and proven path of assistance.”