This week, ALEC Action Senior Director Lee Schalk joined Representative Kevin Brady on Capitol Hill to voice support for the Maximizing America’s Prosperity (MAP) Act of 2019.
Watch the press conference here.
Additionally, ALEC Action CEO Lisa Nelson signed a coalition letter urging Congress to support the MAP Act.
The Map Act, introduced by Senator Mike Braun and Representative Kevin Brady, would cap federal spending – both discretionary and entitlement spending – as a percentage of potential GDP.
“There are numerous examples at the state level of bipartisan spending cuts, but fiscal sanity is nowhere to be found in Washington, D.C.,” Schalk explained. “With record-high revenue collection and a booming economy, it is the perfect time to begin balancing the federal budget.”
View The Letter Below
July 25, 2019
Dear Members of Congress:
The undersigned organizations collectively represent millions of Americans who are concerned about rising spending and debt. It is on their behalf that we urge you to support smart, forward-looking spending reform.
Our organizations work on a variety of issues on which we do not always agree, but we are united in our concern about the United States’ finances. It has been decades since Congress followed its own mandated budget process. The National Debt is $22 trillion and counting amid historic deficits and looming liabilities in major programs.
The options for fixing this problem are as well-known as they are perpetually ignored, and Congress simply must pursue all avenues for forcing fiscal responsibility.
One such option is Senator Mike Braun and Representative Kevin Brady’s Maximizing America’s Prosperity (MAP) Act of 2019, which would cap federal primary spending (including both discretionary and entitlement spending) as a percentage of potential GDP.
The bill is similar to the ways other countries have successfully controlled their spending and debt, such as the Swiss Debt Brake or Swedish fiscal control measures. Research from policy experts Dr. Barry Poulson and Dr. John Merrifield (2015) showed that if the United States had pursued its own binding fiscal rules over the same time other countries did, the national debt could have been almost 50% less than what it was.1
Demanding that Congress do its most basic duties need not be a difficult request. Lawmakers simply must control spending, pass responsible budgets, and implement binding rules for this generation and the next.
For these reasons, we urge you to co-sponsor and support this critical piece of legislation as a component of desperately needed fiscal responsibility in Washington.
