Bipartisan Group Sends Letter on Handling National Debt
A letter from Reps. Scott Peters (D-CA) and Jody Arrington (R-TX), signed by an additional 58 members of Congress, expresses a commitment to continuing to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn impacting millions of Americans but raises concern regarding the increases in national debt. The lawmakers urge leadership to include provisions for future budget reforms in any upcoming pandemic response legislation.
The letter cites Congressional Budget Office data showing “the debt held by the public is likely to exceed 100 percent of GDP in just a few months, and it will hit record levels in a few years. In addition, trust funds for some of our most critical programs will face exhaustion far sooner than we expected as a result of the current crisis. Trust fund insolvency threatens serious hardship for those who depend on the programs.”
They request that any future pandemic response legislation include provisions for budget reforms. These budget reforms should have “broad, bipartisan support,” should not stand in the way of “making necessary decisions to deal with the crisis at hand,” and should “ensure that, in addition to addressing health and economic needs, we lay the foundation for a sustainable fiscal future by building on reforms with established bipartisan support.”
The letter outlines three reform tenets that meet the criteria discussed above. These tenets include annual reports to Congress by GAO, mechanisms to help Congress demonstrate greater accountability in navigating decisions on fiscal health and sustainability, and a process for establishing budgetary goals which limits the growth of federal debt.
“Including budget reforms like these with any further pandemic-response legislation would put in place a plan to make sure that as we address our nation’s health and economic concerns, we will deal with our debt challenges at the appropriate time as well,” the letter explains. “As the first branch of government, Congress can and must address current needs while planning for tomorrow. These bipartisan options can help us come together—as Americans—to build a brighter, more resilient future.”
Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, praised the letter in a statement saying, “It’s heartening to see dozens of members from both parties recognize the threat of our rising national debt and make clear their intention to tackle this challenge once the time is right… More than anything, a bipartisan framework for budget reforms such as this will start a conversation on how to tackle these challenges. Solutions like bipartisan commissions, annual reports on our nation’s fiscal health, and agreed-upon debt-to-GDP targets would help lay the groundwork to identify medium- and long-term fiscal policies that can put our deficits and debt back on a sustainable trajectory that leaves us with more room to respond to future downturns and crises.”
