Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s Third District reiterated her commitment to fiscal responsibility today by voting in favor of legislation to reinstitute statuary pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules.  The bill, which was introduced by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and has more than 160 cosponsors, passed by a vote of 265 to 166.

“Under PAYGO, the government can only spend a dollar if it saves a dollar elsewhere.  Just as Nevada’s families must stick to a budget and live within their means, so too must the federal government,” Congresswoman Titus said.  “By reinstating PAYGO, this Congress will recommit to fiscal responsibility as we work to reduce our deficit and turn our economy around.”

“This Congress inherited a fiscal and economic mess after eight years of economic policies that left our nation awash in red ink,” Titus added.  “We took unprecedented action to address the worst recession in a generation and make critical short-term investments in energy, health care, and education that will create jobs and get our economy back on track.  Now is the time to tighten our belt and reign in our nation’s deficit.  While this bill is not the answer to all of our fiscal problems, it will help prevent the hole from getting deeper.”

PAYGO rules were instituted during the 1990s and helped bring down the deficit and create a $5.6 trillion surplus.  This legislation requires that all new policies reducing revenues or expanding entitlement spending be offset over five and 10 years.

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Tags: fiscal responsibility