1.9: Cut-and-Invest Committee
ESTABLISH CUT-AND-INVEST COMMITTEE TO CUT LOW-PRIORITY SPENDING, INCREASE HIGH-PRIORITY INVESTMENT, AND CONSOLIDATE DUPLICATIVE
FEDERAL PROGRAMS.
Other Information:
The Commission recommends creating a new, bipartisan Cut-and-Invest Committee to be charged each year with identifying 2 percent
of the discretionary budget that should be cut and identifying how to redirect half of that savings, or 1 percent, into high-value
investment. Over the next decade, the Cut-and-Invest Committee will be expected to recommend more than $200 billion in discretionary
cuts, freeing up $100 billion for high-priority investments America will need to remain competitive, such as increasing college
graduation rates, leveraging private capital through an infrastructure bank, and expanding high-value research and development
in energy and other critical areas. The significant growth in domestic spending over the last decade has brought an alarming
proliferation of federal programs – many of which duplicate pre-existing federal efforts and each other. Instead of eliminating
outdated or ineffective initiatives, Congress often simply creates more programs to address the same concerns. The result
is a patchwork of thousands of duplicative programs, nearly impossible to track and even harder to evaluate for effective
outcomes. Duplication results in unnecessary deficit spending and crowds out important investments. For example, the government
funds more than 44 job training programs across nine different federal agencies, at least 20 programs at 12 agencies dedicated
to the study of invasive species, and 105 programs meant to encourage participation in science, technology, education, and
math. Many of these programs cannot demonstrate to Congress or taxpayers they are actually accomplishing their intended purpose.
Programs without demonstrable results costs taxpayers billions of dollars and fail those the programs are intended to serve.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) will soon release its first annual duplication review of overlapping federal programs,
agencies, and initiatives. The Commission recommends that in 2011, congressional authorizing committees report out legislation
to consolidate and eliminate duplicative programs within their jurisdiction, and that Congress rescind savings from reduced
overhead and program elimination.
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