Key Vote YES on the Pennies Plan Balanced Budget, S. 1332

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to vote YES on the Pennies Plan Balanced Budget, S. 1332. Introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the Pennies Plan Balanced Budget would cut two cents for every dollar of on-budget spending beginning in FY 2020. This would balance the federal budget by FY 2024, without making any changes to Social Security.

The concerns about federal spending, deficits, and the national debt are well known. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s January 2019 baseline, federal spending will continue to grow over the next ten years, leading to a projected total deficit of nearly $11.6 trillion. The share of the debt held by the public will grow from 79.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in FY 2020 to 92.7 percent in FY 2029.

The Pennies Plan Balanced Budget begins by echoing a line from President Trump’s State of the Union address. The budget resolution simply states, “It is the sense of Congress that the United States will not be a socialist nation.” Socialism leads to economic destruction, the loss of fundamental liberties, and suffering. Congress must reject the calls for America to adopt socialist policies.

Sen. Paul’s Pennies Plan Balanced Budget would address the concerning growth of federal spending by cutting two pennies from every dollar of on-budget spending. This would reduce on-budget spending by $183.1 billion in FY 2020 and $11.3 trillion in the unified budget. Although federal spending will be reduced under this budget proposal, federal spending will still rise by 18.2 percent over the budget window. The spending levels under the budget resolution would be enforceable under a point of order requiring five-eighths of members present and voting to waive.

The Pennies Plan Balanced Budget includes reconciliation instructions to the Senate Finance Committee to extend the individual income tax reforms, including the pass-through changes, under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The budget resolution also includes a reserve fund for the expansion of health savings accounts. This is a crucial health insurance reform that will put people in charge of their healthcare dollars and lower overall healthcare costs.

FreedomWorks will count the vote on the Pennies Plan Balanced Budget, S. 1332, when calculating our Scorecard for 2019 and reserves the right to weight any votes. The scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of the House and Senate who consistently vote to support economic freedom and individual liberty.

Sincerely,

Adam Brandon President, FreedomWorks