Ernst Bill Exposing Boondoggles Passes U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON – The United States Senate passed Senator Joni Ernst’s (R-Iowa) bipartisanBillion Dollar Boondoggle Actthat requires any taxpayer-funded project more than $1 billion over budget or more than five years behind schedule to be made public.
The bill’s passage comes after Ernstreleaseda bombshell report exposing more than a dozen examples that collectively racked up $162 billion in cost overruns.
“A billion dollars over budget isn’t a rounding error, it is a trainwreck,”said Ernst.“The Senate took an important step in curbing the runaway spending in Washington. Sunlight is always the best disinfectant, and an extra layer of scrutiny will allow these bloated projects to either be swiftly fixed or defunded before billions more tax dollars are wasted.”
This bill would apply to some of the worst boondogglesuncoveredby Ernst, including:
Clickhereto view the bill.
Background:
Ernst’syearsof advocacy led to thedefundingof the California Crazy Train that was nearly $100 billion over budget.
In 2022, Ernstsuccessfullyinserted a provision into theInflation Reduction Actrequiring the Department of Transportation (DOT) to keep track of projects paid for by taxpayers that are a billion dollars over budget or behind schedule. After the Biden administration refused to enact the provision in theInflation Reduction Act, Ernst continued her efforts and pushed for herBillion Dollar Boondoggle Actin 2023 to expose these government projects.
Ernst successfullyfoughtto advance theBillion Dollar Boondoggle Actout of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee earlier this year in July.
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