Spending Cut Alert: Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development

Washington, D.C. – Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released its analysis of the Senate version of the fiscal year (FY) 2012 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Bill.  The bill allocates $57.6 billion, which is $2.2 billion above the FY 2011 amount and $18.8 billion below the FY 2012 budget request. 

“While we are encouraged by Congress’s efforts to spend taxpayer dollars at a rate slower than the President’s request, this bill fails to prioritize federal spending,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.  “It continues funding for outdated programs like the Essential Air Service, which subsidizes rarely-used airports, and Community Development Block Grants (CDBGs), which have provided more than $100 billion to local governments since their inception with few demonstrable results.  Even President Obama, a former community organizer, has recommended reducing CDBG funding.”

In this Spending Cut Alert, CAGW compared the FY 2012 THUD bill to the recommendations contained in its 2011 Prime Cuts database and found five significant spending cuts that, if enacted, would save taxpayers $5.9 billion in FY 2012 and $29.8 billion over five years.

“The Prime Cuts database gives the public, the President, and Congress a very straightforward list of wasteful, duplicative, and outdated programs drawn from more than two dozen credible sources,” added Schatz.  “All that is missing is the political leadership to eliminate these boondoggles.”

CAGW compared the FY 2012 budget to its 2011 Prime Cuts recommendations and found the following opportunities to cut wasteful spending:

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.