Lankford’s Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act

Washington, DC — Representative James Lankford (R-OK), a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, applauded the work of the Committee yesterday to send a number of important bills to the House floor for full House consideration. One of the bills passed in the Committee’s mark-up today was H.R. 1423, Lankford’s Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act.

“The federal government cannot produce a list of all the programs, the cost of the programs and the metrics to evaluate the programs. That is absurd,” said Lankford.

“The American people cannot hold their government accountable and eliminate duplication in government, if we cannot even produce a list of the programs. As we rapidly approach $17 trillion in national debt, it is vital that we hold the federal government accountable for how Washington spends our hard-earned tax dollars.”

In April 2013, Lankford introduced H.R. 1423, the Taxpayer Right to Know Act, which requires that all federal agencies provide taxpayers with an annual report card for all federal programs. These would be published annually and include a basic listing of all programs they oversee, as well as each program’s function, staff, administrative cost and performance metrics. Reports would be accompanied by recommendations for greater efficiency and would turn the spotlight on federal duplication and waste.

“The agency overlap and redundancy is completely out of control. With the passage of the Taxpayers Right-To-Know bill through Committee we are one step closer to a more streamlined and effective federal government," said Lankford.

Another notable bill to pass the Committee today was the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act of 2013, which Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Lankford, who began the process in 2011, worked to draft H.R. 899 in order to revamp the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995. The bill updates and reforms standards for unfunded federal regulations on states, local governments and the private sector.

“The UMRA update will expose burdensome and excessive regulations on governments or private businesses. This necessary reform will force the federal government to consider the least burdensome and most effective means for any future regulation,” continued Lankford.

“I look forward to the House’s full consideration of these and other important federal accountability reforms.  We must continue to roll back Washington’s excessive regulatory scheme in favor of a more accountable and efficient federal government. We must always seek to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely,” concluded Lankford.