(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) declared qualified victories in the passage of several amendments to the Sen. Con. Res. 8, the fiscal year 2014 budget resolution, which the Senate approved on March 23 by a vote of 50-49.  Prior to Saturday’s vote, CCAGW had expressed strong opposition to the resolution, which was so ill-advised that it earned Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) the dubious honor of Citizens Against Government Waste’s March 2013 Porker of the Month.  CCAGW remains opposed to the resolution itself, but the final version included several amendments that represent important victories for taxpayers, including the following:

• Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s (R-N.H.) Amendment #136, which would establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund for the prohibition on funding of the wasteful Medium Extended Air Defense System;

• Sen. Johnny Isakson’s (R-Ga.) Amendment #138, which would establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to establishing a biennial budget and appropriations process;

• Sen. Rob Portman’s (R-Ohio) Amendment #154, which would require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to include macroeconomic feedback scoring of tax legislation, as current estimates of revenue increases from tax hikes ignore the effects of altered incentives to work, save, and invest that can result from higher taxes;

• Sen. John Hoeven’s (R-S.D.) Amendment No. 494, which would establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund to promote investment and job growth in United States manufacturing, oil and gas production, and refining sectors through the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline; and,

• Sen. Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.) Amendment #709, which would allow for consolidating several areas of extensive federal duplication as outlined by the Government Accountability Office, including 15 financial literacy programs, 160 housing assistance programs, 15 unmanned aircraft programs, 253 Department of Justice grant programs, 209 STEM programs, 8 economic development programs, 53 entrepreneurial support programs, 17 FEMA programs, 94 green building programs, 14 diesel emissions programs, 50 early learning and child care programs, 18 domestic food assistance programs, 80 federal teacher quality progrmas, 18 defense language and cultural training programs, and 21 nuclear nonproliferation programs;
  
   

CCAGW is grateful to the lawmakers who worked hard to improve a horrific budget resolution by defending the interests of taxpayers. 

CCAGW is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.