Streamlining Government, Saving Money

Congressman Braley is honored by the Plain Language Center at a recent event at the National Press Club.

I learned the value of a dollar when I was growing up in Brooklyn, Iowa – and it’s our hard-earned tax dollars the government is spending. The time has come for Congress to exercise some real oversight to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in our federal government.

As a member of the Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, which has the authority to investigate government spending, I’m working to make the government spend your taxes more wisely.

Simplifying Government Paperwork

On October 13, 2010 President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act into law. The bill requires the federal government to write documents, such as small business contracting forms and tax returns, in simple easy-to-understand language – a practice that will save small businesses time and money. Small businesses lose time and money because government forms are too complicated. Iowa small businesses deserve a government that reduces barriers to hiring, not creates more burdens through paperwork.

The next step is the Plain Regulations Act, a bill that would require the federal government to write new and updated regulations in clear, simple language. The National Small Business Association estimates that businesses with less than 20 employees pay an estimated $7,600 per employee to comply with government regulations. Any steps we can take to reduce those costs and simplify government regulations means small businesses can use those savings to hire more workers or reinvest in their business.

Eliminating Wasteful Spending

The government is full of examples of duplicative and overlapping services. For example, the federal government has 47 job training programs – and 44 of them have overlapping missions and services. Duplicative government services waste taxpayers’ money.

That’s why I’m working to pass bipartisan legislation called the Government Waste Reduction Act that would reduce duplicative services and root out waste in government spending. The bill would establish an independent Government Waste Reduction Board which would develop detailed and specific legislative proposals to consolidate duplicative government services based on recommendations from the Government Accountability Office.