President Joe Biden on Monday signed bipartisan legislation intended to slash wasteful government spending.
The Eliminate Useless Reports Act, sponsored by U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff, D-GA., and James Lankford, R-Okla, could cut unnecessary national spending by reforming the process for federal agencies to make recommendations for mandated reports. It would ultimately determine whether those reports should be reduced in frequency, according to lawmakers.
“Taxpayer dollars are wasted on needless paperwork and red tape in the federal government. I brought Republicans and Democrats together to cut waste and save taxpayer dollars,” Ossoff said.
Lankford agreed the newly-signed bill could save tax dollars and time spent by federal employees on such reports.
“Less paper, more productivity,” he said. “While most required reports to Congress from federal agencies are important, some provide less value than the paper they are printed on. But even as they’ve long-outlasted their usefulness, they never seem to get cleared off agencies’ must-do lists. Let’s save tax dollars and the time of federal workers to provide better and more effective customer service by eliminating these unnecessary yet mandatory reports.”
Companion legislation was led in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., and Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis.
“Outdated government reports waste time and resources without providing value. Having seen this issue firsthand during my time as mayor of Long Beach, I worked alongside colleagues from both parties to push for legislation that streamlines our government processes,” Garcia said.
