Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) issued the following statement after House Democrats for the sixth time voted against a money-saving YouCut initiative chosen by the American people. This week’s proposal would save taxpayers $120 million a year by preventing federal employees from participating in union activities during official work time. This is the third time YouCut voters have selected a spending cut first proposed by the RSC Sunset Caucus.

“In just one year, federal employees used 3 million official hours and collected $120 million while working on union activities,” said Congressman Price. “This is an insult to the families and businesses across the country who are struggling to make ends meet. The last thing they need is to see their tax dollars subsidize lobbying and political activities by public sector unions. Federal employees should not be allowed to spend their working hours on union activities while collecting a paycheck from the American people. Washington needs to tighten its belt, and this is a perfect place to start. The Democrats who opposed this common sense measure are more concerned about their political allies in Big Labor than hardworking American taxpayers.”

Note: Currently, some federal employees spend up to 100 percent of their workweek, paid by taxpayers, doing work for a union. In fiscal year 2008, the federal government spent $120 million paying employees for their time spent working on union activities – thus the five year savings for this bill would be a minimum of $600 million. This legislation would prevent federal employees participating in union activities during their official time.