Rubio Unveils REFUND Act
What happens when a state says "thanks, but no thanks" to federal funds, as Florida Governor Rick Scott did when he rejected $2.4 billion in federal dollars intended for high-speed rail development? A spurned Obama simply takes the taxpayer dollars elsewhere -- in this case, California and the Northeast corridor were the beneficiaries of frugal Florida's rejected cash.
At a time when the country should be utilizing its full arsenal of cost cutting techniques in the battle against an explosive national debt, it's sheer folly for the federal government to disincentivize states to save money by threatening to reallocate unused funds to other states. Acknowledging this problem, Marco Rubio today introduced the Returned Exclusively for Unpaid National Debt, or REFUND, Act which would allow states to return unwanted federal funds to the Treasury in order to help pay down the national debt. Sen. Rubio explained his proposed legislation thus:
The REFUND Act ends the ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ mentality that encourages states to take debt-financed cash from Washington that will be a crushing burden on our children and grandchildren...Fiscally responsible state officials should be allowed to divert Washington’s spending spree towards debt reduction and do their part to end the practice of spending money we don’t have.
It takes a great deal of courage for state officials to take the long view and reject debt-financed federal funds, but this legislation will encourage them to make decisions with their state’s and nation’s best interests at heart and without worrying that the money will be spent elsewhere if they don’t. For our children’s and grandchildren’s sake, Washington’s dysfunctional culture of borrowing and misspending has to end, and this is one way states can join the fight for this national cause.
I expect the headline, "Rubio Proposal Would Kill Jobs, Leave Potholes Unfilled", to appear in the NYT tomorrow.
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Comments :
Apr '11
Re: Rubio Unveils REFUND Act
Slightly off-topic, but can we please stop giving legislation these cute little acronyms? It's getting really annoying.
Rubio's proposal is an excellent first start. A better proposal would be to simply end federal subsidies to states in the first place.
Oct '10
Re: Rubio Unveils REFUND Act
A nice idea, and good publicity for the man who will be king. However, the Obama administration can surely vet states to find out which ones want to bend their heads to the federal trough.
Aug '10
Re: Rubio Unveils REFUND Act
That's pretty close to how Canada's government handled infrastructure stimulus spending. They created a pot of money for infrastructure projects, allocated to the provinces largely on a per-capita basis. Municipalities then submitted applications for projects that could be financed by the fund. The applications were judged by panels comprised of appointees by both the federal government and the applicable provincial government. If a province didn't have enough qualifying projects to use up their share of the fund, the money didn't get spent. Because the provincial governments weren't generating the applications, they couldn't "max out" their share of the pot. Lots of municipalities had their applications denied because they didn't fit the program's criteria, and they couldn't submit new applications to replace them because there was a deadline for applications. Some tried to hoot and holler that they didn't get "their fair share", but were told that the criteria was clearly laid out for them in advance.
Whether federal funding was warranted in the first place is still up for debate, but I'm quite proud of the way the Conservative government administered the program.
Mar '11
Re: Rubio Unveils REFUND Act
Using money offered to “refusenik” states to pay down the debt is surely better than rerouting it to spendthrift states, but even this rewards financially irresponsible states since all would benefit from a reduction in the national debt.
Dec '10
Re: Rubio Unveils REFUND Act
Here's what happens when a governor does not turn down federal cotton candy. Thaks, Charlie Crist!
In the case of the "Stimulus" funding that temporarily floated bloated state payrolls and that of the ridiculous "High Speed Rail" boondoggle, former Governor Crist wanted the federal (borrowed) money and new Governor Scott is taking the heat for shutting off the federal spigot. The name is lame, but Rubio is taking an appropriate action, that will go nowhere. However, it lays down a marker.
Crist is where he belongs, at an ambulance-chasing law firm.
May '10
Re: Rubio Unveils REFUND Act
Even if the returned funds don't get directly sent to another state, the fact that it reduces the deficit gives Congress a pass to increase spending to those other states anyway.
Oct '10
Re: Rubio Unveils REFUND Act
Why is america spending money it doesnt have?
Nov '10
Re: Rubio Unveils REFUND Act
I thought this was one of the more impressive ones.
Dan IV: Slightly off-topic, but can we please stop giving legislation these cute little acronyms? It's getting really annoying.
Rubio's proposal is an excellent first start. A better proposal would be to simply end federal subsidies to states in the first place. · May 17 at 3:19pm