Fond Du Lac Times

On June 21, Congressman Glenn Grothman (WI-06) introduced the Enforce the Caps Act, which would impose restraints on federal spending by extending the enforcement period of spending caps that were recently signed into law under the Fiscal Responsibility Act through Fiscal Year (FY) 2029. This bill is endorsed by the America First Policy Institute, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, FreedomWorks, the National Taxpayers Union, Heritage Action, R Street Institute, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and the Job Creators Network.

“Americans are fed up with reckless spending, which has contributed to our debt towering above $31 trillion and inflation rising to 40-year highs,” said Grothman. “In bipartisan fashion, Congress agreed on spending caps that are enforceable through FY25, and this legislation simply extends the tools in place to enforce those caps through FY29. The first step toward restoring fiscal sanity in the federal government is to put more guard rails in place to prevent massive, unchecked deficit spending.

“The Fiscal Responsibility Act includes sensible reforms to fight radical spending and tackle inflation, but taxpayers deserve more protection. The Enforce the Caps Act addresses Washington’s addiction to reckless spending, reduces the deficit, and takes action to secure America’s fiscal future for our children and grandchildren.”

“Though the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) passage tied a necessary debt limit increase with some spending limits, the Congressional Budget Office says the federal debt will explode to over $45 trillion within the decade if Congress doesn’t act,” said Jim Carter, Director of America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Prosperity. “The Enforce the Caps Act is a step in the right direction as it strengthens the FRA to its intended effect, making the budget caps from FY 26' to FY 29' fully enforceable through sequestration. We applaud Congressman Grothman for this commonsense measure to rein in out-of-control spending.”

“Congress needs automatic enforcement to make spending limits real,” said Kurt Couchman, Senior Fellow in Fiscal Policy with Americans for Prosperity. “Rep. Grothman’s proposal to add sequester backing to appropriations caps for four more years makes good sense. As Congress continues with the unfinished business of ending excessive spending and debt, this legislation deserves members’ support.”

“While the Fiscal Responsibility Act accomplished a $1.5 trillion reduction (CBO) in spending through, primarily, its FY2024 and FY2025 spending caps, President Biden and Senate Democrats would not allow enforceable spending limits in Fiscal Years 2026 through 2029. This leaves the nation’s fiscal stability vulnerable to whoever holds power during these years,” said Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform. “Thankfully, Representative Glenn Grothman has introduced the Enforce the Caps Act, which would make these spending caps enforceable through sequestration. This law would decrease planned spending by an additional $553 billion. Rep. Grothman’s bill is a crucial next step towards fiscal sanity, providing a more stable economy for Americans and protecting future taxpayers. ATR urges all lawmakers to support this important legislation.”

“It is far past time for House Republicans to get serious about our nation's fiscal future,” said Adam Brandon, President of FreedomWorks. “With the nation barreling toward $50 trillion in debt, mild budget caps on discretionary spending for two years that passed in the Fiscal Responsibility Act are insufficient for Congress's addiction to spending. The Enforce the Caps Act adds longevity to Republicans' directive to return fiscal responsibility to Capitol Hill, and we applaud Mr. Grothman’s efforts to implement much-needed budgetary reforms."

“The Fiscal Responsibility Act was a good first step toward getting deficits under control, but much work remains,” said Brandon Arnold, Executive Vice President of the National Taxpayers Union. “Rep. Glenn Grothman's Enforce the Caps Act builds on the FRA by strengthening its budget caps. National Taxpayers Union strongly supports this legislation and applauds Rep. Grothman for continuing his hard work on behalf of taxpayers.”

“R Street Institute is pleased to support the Enforce the Caps Act. The Act would impose a sequester should Congress not adhere to the spending caps agreed to in the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act,” said Nan Swift, Fellow of R Street Institute. “While sequestration is an imperfect tool, it is nonetheless effective and easily avoided through prudent budgeting, a modest but essential first step that will help achieve much-needed savings.”

“The Taxpayers Protection Alliance is proud to endorse the Enforce the Caps Act introduced by Rep. Grothman,” David Williams, President of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. “With Congress passing the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 and imposing discretionary spending caps for fiscal year (FY) 24 through FY26, the Enforce the Caps Act would decrease outlays by $553 billion between FY26 and FY33 by enforcing spending caps through sequestration. TPA is proud to support a bill designed to reign in Washington’s reckless spending and protect Americans’ pocketbooks.”

“Representative Grothman’s ‘Enforce the Caps Act’ would address one of the key pillars of the Job Creators Network’s American Small Business Plan – reducing government spending. Small businesses have been crushed by high inflation caused in large part by congressional Democrats acting as if Americans have given them a blank check. This legislation would be an important step forward in reining-in out-of-control government spending,” said Alfredo Ortiz, President & CEO of the Job Creators Network.

Background Information

The bipartisan Fiscal Responsibly Act of 2023 placed two years of enforceable discretionary spending caps for FY24 and FY25 and four years of non-enforceable caps for FY26 through FY29. The Enforce the Caps Act protects taxpayers by simply extending the enforcement period to apply to FY26 through FY29.

The Enforce the Caps Act protects taxpayers by simply extending the caps imposed on FY26 through FY29 are enforceable through sequestration.

According to the CBO, full enforcement of these caps would decrease outlays by $553 billion between 2026 and 2033.

This bill has eleven cosponsors, including Representatives Brian Babin (R-TX), Andy Barr (R-KY), Bob Good (R-VA), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Andy Harris (R-MD), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Mary Miller (R-IL), Ralph Norman (R-SC), David Rouzer (R-NC), and George Santos (R-NY).

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U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) is serving his fifth term representing Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Original source can be found here.