Nine bills introduced by the Problem Solvers coalition.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Freshman Congressman Ami Bera, a Democrat from California, is co-chair of a bipartisan group of US House of Representative members, who are saying they are tired of the partisan political wrangling and gridlock in Washington, and have come together to introduce a bill package called “Make Government Work!”. The package features nine bills that move to reduce government inefficiency and waste.
“The development of the Problem Solvers coalition and the push to adopt these Make Government Work! proposals is an unprecedented and overdue development on Capitol Hill,” said Bera. “I ran for Congress because I believe it should be a place for service where people come before politics, and that means working with people from both parties to find common ground and move our country forward.”
The Problem Solvers coalition was introduced by the No Labels movement, a national bi-partisan citizens’ movement to bring congressional leaders of different parties together toward the common goal of passing laws that improve America. The Problem Solvers is composed of 81 congressmen and congresswomen, both Democrats and Republicans, up from the initial number of just 24.
“Because of our work with the Problem Solvers,” said Bera, “we are starting to build trust with one another in Congress. And if we can get some real movement on these reforms, I think we can begin to rebuild the American people’s trust in their government.”
Here are the bills that compose the “Make Government Work!” legislative package:
*The No Budget, No Pay Act – withholds Congressional pay if both chambers of Congress (House and Senate) cannot agree on and pass a budget at the start of each fiscal year.
* The Take the Time, Save the Dime Act – establishes a biennial budgeting cycle for the entire US government.
* The Don’t Duplicate, Consolidate Act – would get rid of overlapping/duplicated programs identified by the Government Accountability Office.
* The Buy Smarter and Save Act – enacts “strategic sourcing and bulk purchasing across federal agencies” in order to save taxpayers billions of dollars annually.
* The No Adding, No Padding Act – makes federal agencies justify budget increases without using inflation as a way to automatically increase budgets anyway.
* The 21st Century Healthcare for Heroes Act – would institute electronic record keeping in an effort to improve health care for military veterans.
* The Stay in Place, Cut the Waste Act – would cut the travel of Congressional employees by 50% by allowing them to video conference into meetings rather than travel to Washington from their home states.
*The Wasted Energy, Wasted Dollars Act – federal buildings would partner with companies and “would then be paid out of the energy savings achieved by their work.”
* The Plan for Efficient and Effective Government Act – creates a bipartisan committee to oversee and enact changes on federal government programs to become more efficient and effective.