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Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) made the following statement after voting against H.R. 2920, the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) Act of 2009.

Currently, PAYGO rules require spending bills in Congress to have a revenue source that funds the programs the legislation enacts.  H.R. 2920 only requires PAYGO rules for 53% of the federal budget, mainly entitlement spending, and most tax law.  H.R. 2920 fails to require PAYGO rules for discretionary spending and does not add any limits to the amount that federal debt can grow. 

House Republicans introduced substitute legislation that would ensure federal spending cannot grow faster than the economy and a cap on discretionary spending. 

“H.R. 2920 is nothing more than a smoke and mirrors trick by the Democrat majority to cover their outrageous spending tracks.  Since taking control of Congress in 2007, the Democrat majority has racked up over $420 billion in spending that violated their own PAYGO rules and subsequently added $1.678 trillion to the national deficit.  If the Democrat majority was serious about reigning in spending, they would include PAYGO rules for all spending, including discretionary spending, and adhere to fiscal responsibility when drafting spending bills to avoid these situations in the first place.  Constituents in Ohio’s Fifth District, and millions of other Americans, are forced to live within their means each day and frankly it is time that Congress get serious about doing the same.  Without serious and meaningful spending reform, we are creating a mountain of debt that our future generations will be forced to deal with,” Latta stated after today’s vote.