Washington, D.C. – Congress seems to find it hard to stop overspending and adding to the nation’s $19 trillion debt, but U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., says the federal government should learn a thing or two from the state of Wyoming about the importance of making tough financial decisions.
As Wyoming experiences a drastic reduction in revenue, the governor recently proposed cutting $248 million from the state budget, which amounts to eight percent of Wyoming’s two-year budget. According to Enzi, these cuts aren’t something Wyomingites or the governor are excited about, but they understand you can’t spend your way to prosperity.
“If Wyoming can find a way to cut its budget, the federal government should be able to do the same,” Enzi said Thursday on the Senate floor.
Enzi recommended several ideas on how the federal government could make reasonable but real cuts to spending, including following Wyoming’s lead by acknowledging how much money is available and making targeted cuts to live within its means.
“Like Wyoming, we should require all government departments and agencies to list what they do best and what they do worst,” Enzi said. “That way we can maintain what we do well and cut what we don’t. We need to prioritize how we spend taxpayers’ dollars, just like Wyoming.”
One of the key ways to make targeted cuts could come from Enzi’s penny plan. The legislation would allow for targeted cuts as long as Congress cut overall government spending by one percent for five years, which would balance the budget. Once balanced, the penny plan would cap future spending so the government lives within its means.
Enzi said Congress should also follow Wyoming’s lead by implementing a biennial budget. By budgeting for two years, Congress would have more time to review the details of proposed spending and eliminate duplication and waste.
“We’ve run out of money and are living on what we borrow from other countries,” Enzi said. “If we don’t get serious about cutting spending soon, the programs that people enjoy and rely on won’t just shrink, they will disappear entirely. It is long past time for us to apply reasonable constraints on our spending. And if we need a blueprint on how to do it, we can look at my home state of Wyoming.”