Legislation has been introduced in the Senate to give lawmakers more information about programs so they can better determine where they overlap with existing initiatives before approving them.
Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Mark Udall, D-Colo., introduced the bill, which would mandate an analysis by the Congressional Research Service identifying whether a bill under consideration creates a federal program, office, or initiative that would duplicate or overlap an existing federal entity. CRS would have to issue a rating for the bill indicating the degree of overlap.
A recent GAO report estimates a $95 billion in potential savings among 17 areas of government duplication and 14 areas of potential cost savings.
"If individual members of the Senate fail to do the research to determine if their proposals are duplicative, this bill will ensure they receive that information," said Coburn, the ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.