Shimkus Supports Bipartisan Budget Act

Washington, DC - Congressman John Shimkus (R, Illinois-15) voted for House passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 that sets spending guidelines for the current fiscal year (2014) and the next fiscal year (2015.)  House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan reached the deal with Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray.

“While the agreement increases the security spending slightly, there is an overall net deficit reduction of an additional $23 billion on top of the previous Budget Control Act that I also supported,” Shimkus explained. “In addition, some pension controls are instituted as well as other savings.”

Some of the cost saving provisions include:

• stopping criminals from receiving unemployment checks;
• stopping dead people from receiving government payments; and
• ending interest rate bonuses for some energy company deposits with the government.

With regard to federal pension savings…future federal employees will pay 1.3 percent more toward their retirement, and working age military retirees will get a slightly lower cost-of-living increase.

“These are all modest reforms, yet they are reforms that will pass a Democrat Senate and get signed into law by the President,” Shimkus noted.  “We continue to reduce the deficit without raising income taxes.”

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