The table below shows the latest BillTally findings on the Kentucky delegation from National Taxpayers Union Foundation’s analysis of the 112th Congress. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the net cost of all of the spending and savings bills sponsored or cosponsored by each Member of Congress. We cross-index our database of cost estimates with each bill supported by each Member to calculate their net spending agenda (excluding overlapping/duplicate measures).
Net Cost of Legislation Sponsored and Cosponsored by Kentucky’s Congressional Delegation in the 112th Congress (Dollar Figures in Millions)
| Name | Party | Increases | Decreases | Net Spending Agenda | # of Increases | # of Decreases |
| McConnell, Mitch | R | $3,055 | ($261,377) | ($258,322) | 8 | 20 |
| Paul, Rand | R | $345 | ($650,786) | ($650,441) | 6 | 38 |
| Chandler, Ben | D | $31,309 | ($3,370) | $27,939 | 32 | 2 |
| Davis, Geoff | R | $3,478 | ($155,395) | ($151,917) | 16 | 9 |
| Guthrie, Brett | R | $13,629 | ($70,043) | ($56,414) | 21 | 13 |
| Rogers, Harold | R | $5,063 | ($67,589) | ($62,526) | 13 | 6 |
| Whitfield, Edward | R | $9,779 | ($65,229) | ($55,450) | 16 | 7 |
| Yarmuth, John | D | $1,306,087 | ($3,374) | $1,302,713 | 57 | 3 |
| Note: The links in the names will open a detailed report of that Member’s sponsored bills that had cost estimates. | ||||||
Both of the Senators from Kentucky were “net cutters”: if the legislation they sponsored or cosponsored were enacted into law, spending would be cut. Senator Paul called for the most budget cuts by any Senator ($650 billion). The average Republican Senator would have cut the budget by $169 billion.
Each of the Republicans in the House delegation were also net cutters, with net agendas to reduce spending ranging from $55 billion to nearly $152 billion (Representative Davis). Among the Democrats in the House, one was a sponsor of legislation to enact a single-payer, universal health system exclusively administered by the federal government. Among all of the legislation introduced in the 112th Congress, this proposal had the largest price tag.
The full report contains lots of other data points, including the cost of all bills introduced in each Chamber and a look at fiscally-related member caucuses such as the Tea Party Caucus.
Links:
- Report: http://www.ntu.org/foundation/billtally-report-112-3.html (or pdf)
- Press Release: https://www.ntu.org/foundation/52813_112th-congress-billtally-spending-report.html
- Searchable Database of Members’ Legislation: https://www.ntu.org/on-capitol-hill/billtally/
National Taxpayers Union Foundation108 North Alfred Street, Alexandria, VA 22314703-683-5700, fax: 703-683-5722, e-mail: ntuf@ntu.org www.ntu.org/ntuf This report should not be construed as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress or as reflecting on a Member’s fitness to serve.