Congressman Estes Reintroduces CBO Reform Bill

Last week, U.S. Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas) reintroduced the Executive Action Cost Transparency Act. This bill would mandate that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) provide a comprehensive and centralized list of final administrative actions in order to increase transparency and streamline information flow, providing lawmakers with needed information on spending. This would include proposed rules, final rules, executive orders, memoranda, and judicial actions since the last baseline and would further require CBO to provide updated estimates for scores that meet a threshold of $50 billion over 10 years.

This common sense reform would ensure that the CBO, the designated scorekeepers of legislation, provide lawmakers with accurate and timely information on the spending of the executive branch, regardless of who is in the White House.

"This common sense legislation takes steps to change course on the debt crisis that no American taxpayer wants to see from the federal government. Providing transparency on these costs is what the American people deserve," Rep. Estes said. "Improving the information that CBO provides to Congress and the public is one crucial step that will help ensure we know the true cost of D.C. spending."

Congress has a duty to ensure the CBO is fulfilling its mission of providing lawmakers with accurate and timely information and analysis on legislation and the economy.