BillTally Quarterly Report
Over the past few months, The Taxpayer's Tab has provided snapshots of NTUF's ongoing research into how Members of Congress want to spend your tax dollars by looking at the legislation that they sponsor and cosponsor. Today's Tab pulls together all of our research to give taxpayers a more complete picture of the 111th Congress.
The 111th Congress to Date
In the 22 months since the 111th Congress first convened, NTUF has read, reviewed, and researched nearly 10,000 pieces of legislation. We've developed cost estimates for 2,418 of them - this means that they could increase, or decrease, federal spending by at least $1 million on an annual basis - while the others had no cost or a cost estimate has not yet been obtained.
As the accompanying graph shows, NTUF scored 1,413 House bills as spending increases and 103 bills as spending cuts. In the Senate, there were 859 bills to increase spending and 43 bills to cut it.
Table 1 shows how these bills would affect spending. If all House bills - excluding overlapping measures - were adopted into law, federal spending would rise by approximately $2.1 trillion on an annual basis. If all Senate bills were adopted excluding offsetting items, annual spending would rise by approximately $1.2 trillion.
Table 1. Congressional Spending Agendas 111th Congress (Dollar Figures Are in Millions) | |||
Chamber | All Increase Bills | All Decrease Bills | Net Spending Increase* |
| House | $2,450,169 | ($394,404) | $2,055,765 |
| Senate | $1,421,764 | ($203,697) | $1,218,067 |
| * Excludes overlapping bills Source: NTUF BillTally, 111th Congress through Oct. 1st. | |||
The House To Date
- Number of increase bills for each decrease bill: 13.7 to 1
- Spending increases per dollar cut: $6.21
- Percent of increases offset by cuts: 16.1%
While the average Representative sponsored or cosponsored 69 bills to hike spending, the average Democrat sponsored nearly three times the number of increase bills than did the average House Republican (see Table 2). Republicans, on average, did outpace Democrats on sponsorship of spending cut bills 7 to 4, on average.
Table 2. Average Number of House Bills Sponsored by Party 111th Congress | |||
Party | Number of Bills to Increase Spending | Number of Bills to Reduce Spending | Total Number of Bills |
| Democrats | 93 | 4 | 143 |
| Republicans | 34 | 7 | 336 |
| House Average | 69 | 6 | 222 |
| Source: NTUF BillTally, 111th Congress through Oct. 1st. | |||
Democrat's support of spending bills relative to Republicans translated into a higher net spending agenda, on average. As Table 3 shows, House Democrats had a positive net spending agenda of $526.6 billion, while the average House Republican had negative net spending agenda of $48.1 billion.
Table 3. Average Net Spending Agendas by Party, House 111th Congress (Dollar Figures Are in Millions) | ||||
Party | Proposed Increases | Proposed Cuts | Net Agendas | Percent of Increase Offset by Cuts |
| Democrats | $537,309 | ($10,678) | $526,632 | 2.0% |
| Republicans | $31,119 | ($79,194) | ($48,075) | 254.5% |
| House Average | $331,382 | ($38,551) | $292,831 | 11.6% |
| Source: NTUF BillTally, 111th Congress through Oct. 1st. | ||||
Tables 4 and 5 show the ten largest spending increase and spending cut bills. Of the ten largest increase bills, six are health care reform packages and four are economic recovery measures. Of the ten largest cut bills, seven would impose a spending limit for the federal government, while two would rescind further stimulus spending and one would repeal a medical device tax.
Table 4. Ten Largest Spending Increase Bills, House 111th Congress | ||
Bill # | Sponsor | Cost (Millions $) |
| HR 676 | Conyers, John | $1,187,000 |
| HR 15 | Dingell, John | $796,726 |
| HR 1200 | McDermott, Jim | $796,726 |
| HR 1321 | Eshoo, Anna | $527,700 |
| HR 861 | Minnick, Walter | $174,000 |
| HR 193 | Stark, Pete | $154,500 |
| HR 1 | Obey, David | $114,260 |
| HR 1606 | Manzullo, Don | $75,050 |
| HR 194 | Stark, Pete | $74,700 |
| HR 679 | Obey, David | $71,199 |
| Source: NTUF BillTally, 111th Congress through Oct. 1st. | ||
Table 5. Ten Largest Spending Cut Bills, House 111th Congress | ||
Bill # | Sponsor | Cost (Millions $) |
| HR 4479 | Forbes, Randy | ($183,781) |
| HR 3298 | Jordan, Jim | ($131,350) |
| HR 3140 | Price, Tom | ($91,600) |
| HR 2842 | Tiahrt, Todd | ($91,600) |
| HR 4871 | Kratovil, Frank | ($44,179) |
| HR 3442 | Hodes, Paul | ($43,850) |
| HR 5615 * | Bilbray, Brian | ($31,200) |
| HR 5542 | Blackburn, Marsha | ($28,480) |
| HR 4883 | Barton, Joe | ($28,164) |
| HR 381 | Blackburn, Marsha | ($28,162) |
| * HR 5615 was highlighted in Issue 2 of The Taxpayer's Tab Source: NTUF BillTally, 111th Congress through Oct. 1st. | ||
The Senate To Date
- Number of increase bills for each decrease bill: 20 to 1
- Spending increases per dollar cut: $6.98
- Percent of increases offset by cuts: 14.3%
In the Senate, the average Senator supported 62 bills to increase spending - 83 for Democrats and 30 for Republicans, see Table 6. The average Democratic Senator also supported more bills to cut spending than did the average Republican, 6 versus 4.
Table 6. Average Number of Senate Sponsored Bills by Party 111th Congress | |||
Party | Number of Bills to Increase Spending | Number of Bills to Reduce Spending | Total Number of Bills |
| Democrats | 83 | 6 | 89 |
| Republicans | 30 | 4 | 35 |
| Senate Average* | 62 | 5 | 67 |
| * Includes Independents Source: NTUF BillTally, 111th Congress through Oct. 1st. | |||
That support did not translate into a lower net spending agenda, however. The average Democratic net spending agenda in the Senate was $164.4 billion, see Table 7. The average Republican net spending agenda was $42.8 billion.
Table 7. Average Net Spending Agendas by Party, Senate 111th Congress (Dollar Figures Are in Millions) | ||||
Party | Proposed Increases | Proposed Cuts | Net Agendas | Percent of Increase Offset by Cuts |
| Democrats | $167,790 | ($3,372) | $164,418 | 2.0% |
| Republicans | $75,391 | ($32,616) | $42,775 | 43.3% |
| Senate Average* | $141,249 | ($15,305) | $125,943 | 10.8% |
| * Includes Independents Source: NTUF BillTally, 111th Congress through Oct. 1st. | ||||
Tables 8 and 9 show the ten largest spending increase and cut bills in the Senate. Five of the largest increase bills involved health care reform, while four focused on economic recovery and one, S. 1733, was energy-related. Among the savings bills three would set discretionary spending limitations, three others would replace the current Tax Code, two would have repealed the Troubled Asset Relief Program in 2009, and the remaining two are health care-related.
Table 8. Ten Largest Spending Increase Bills, Senate 111th Congress | ||
Bill # | Sponsor | Cost (Millions $) |
| S 703 | Sanders, Bernie | $796,726 |
| S 391 | Wyden, Ron | $527,700 |
| S 958 | Rockefeller, Jay | $74,700 |
| S 1733 | Kerry, John | $47,680 |
| S 336 | Inouye, Daniel | $36,277 |
| S 323 | Conrad, Kent | $29,894 |
| S 979 | Durbin, Dick | $27,200 |
| S 3500 | Brown, Sherrod | $25,279 |
| S 3206 | Harkin, Tom | $23,000 |
| S 142 | Kerry, John | $20,840 |
| Source: NTUF BillTally, 111th Congress through Oct. 1st. | ||
Table 9. Ten Largest Spending Cut Bills, Senate 111th Congress | ||
Bill # | Sponsor | Cost (Millions $) |
| S 741 | Specter, Arlen | ($65,936) |
| S 1808 | Feingold, Russ | ($46,442) |
| S 932 | Shelby, Richard | ($41,461) |
| S 2911 | Sessions, Jeff | ($39,819) |
| S 2787 | Thune, John | ($27,865) |
| S 2938 | Thune, John | ($27,865) |
| S 296 | Chambliss, Saxby | ($10,329) |
| S 3158 | Coburn, Tom | ($9,303) |
| S 1734 | Kyl, Jon | ($3,140) |
| S 295 | Bingaman, Jeff | ($1,067) |
| Source: NTUF BillTally, 111th Congress through Oct. 1st. | ||
Know Your Cut Bills
Out of the 2,418 bills scored by NTUF, 142 bills could cut spending by approximately $600 billion. You can find the list of spending cut bills for the 111th Congress here.
About NTUF
The National Taxpayers Union Foundation is a research and educational organization dedicated solely to helping citizens of all generations understand how tax policies, spending programs, and regulations at all levels affect them now and in the future. Through NTUF's timely information, analysis, and commentary, we're empowering citizens to actively engage in the fiscal policy debate and hold public officials accountable every day.
NTUF is a 501(c)(3) research and education organization. Donations are deductible for personal income tax purposes. Please make a donation today to help further NTUF's mission of research and education!
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to aid or hinder the passage of any legislation or comment on any Member's fitness to serve. Cosponsor information obtained from GovTrack.us.