Skip to content
April 28, 2010

Rep. Schiff Votes for Measure to Eliminate Billions in Wasteful Government Spending

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) voted to save taxpayers up to $98 billion by curbing waste, fraud and abuse in government spending due to poor oversight on the part of federal agencies. The Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act, co-sponsored by Rep. Schiff, will help identify, reduce and eliminate improper payments, as well as recover lost funds that federal agencies have improperly disbursed. Specifically, the bill contains provisions to increase transparency by lowering the improper payment threshold for agencies, requiring agencies to develop action plans to avoid future waste, recovering overpayments, and holding agencies accountable. 

“We can't allow a single taxpayer dollar to be wasted on overpayments or careless accounting mistakes,” Rep. Schiff said. “This legislation is one of several bills aimed at rooting out waste and increasing efficiency by auditing government agencies, and assessing their progress in reaching their objectives.” 

According to the Office of Management and Budget, federal agencies made an estimated $98 billion in improper payments in FY2009. These improper payments may occur as a result of fraud or from poor financial management systems that do not detect or prevent mistakes before federal dollars are misspent.