The table below shows the latest BillTally findings on the South Carolina 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 South Carolina’s Congressional Delegation in the 112th Congress (Dollar Figures in Millions) | ||||||
| Name | Party | Increases | Decreases | Net Spending Agenda | # of Increases | # of Decreases |
| DeMint, Jim | R | $405 | ($463,802) | ($463,397) | 7 | 36 |
| Graham, Lindsey | R | $2,519 | ($411,295) | ($408,776) | 21 | 23 |
| Clyburn, James | D | $43,907 | ($3,340) | $40,567 | 14 | 1 |
| Duncan, Jeff | R | $1,486 | ($514,437) | ($512,951) | 25 | 47 |
| Gowdy, Trey | R | $1,038 | ($477,913) | ($476,875) | 17 | 16 |
| Mulvaney, Mick | R | $15,190 | ($348,294) | ($333,104) | 12 | 37 |
| Scott, Tim | R | $1,694 | ($347,252) | ($345,558) | 21 | 29 |
| Wilson, Joe | R | $15,400 | ($289,878) | ($274,478) | 31 | 32 |
| Note: The links in the names will open a detailed report of that Member’s sponsored bills that had cost estimates. | ||||||
Among the states and territories, South Carolina’s House delegation would cut spending by an average of $317 billion. That was higher than all other House delegations in the country. South Carolina’s House Republican delegation, specifically, would cut spending by an average of $389 billion, more than all but one other House Republican delegation. All of South Carolina’s House Republicans were “net cutters,” meaning that the legislation they sponsored would, on net, decrease federal spending if passed.
Representative Jeff Duncan’s proposed $513 billion in net budget cuts was the 5th largest decrease agenda of any Member of Congress in either Chamber. Representative Trey Gowdy and Senator Jim Demint proposed the 11th and 14th largest cut agendas, respectively, among all Members.
In the Senate, South Carolina’s contingency proposed a net average agenda of $436 billion in budget cuts, more than all but one other Senate delegation.
South Carolina’s combined House and Senate delegations proposed, on net, more budget cuts than any other delegation in Congress. Their combined average agenda of nearly $347 billion in cuts would decrease outlays by $68 billion more than the next closest delegation’s agenda.
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/