The Spending Proposed by Tennessee’s Congressional Delegation
The table below shows the latest BillTally findings on the Tennessee 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 Tennessee’s Congressional Delegation
in the 112th Congress (Dollar Figures in Millions)
| Name | Party | Increases | Decreases | Net Spending Agenda | # of Increases | # of Decreases |
| Alexander, Lamar | R | $6,294 | ($229,370) | ($223,076) | 23 | 17 |
| Corker, Bob | R | $5,514 | ($225,504) | ($219,990) | 10 | 11 |
| Black, Diane | R | $2,877 | ($285,722) | ($282,845) | 17 | 32 |
| Blackburn, Marsha | R | $29,714 | ($508,240) | ($478,526) | 35 | 53 |
| Cohen, Steve | D | $1,426,015 | ($46,403) | $1,379,612 | 136 | 8 |
| Cooper, Jim | D | $11,057 | ($3,347) | $7,710 | 21 | 3 |
| DesJarlais, Scott | R | $1,004 | ($257,608) | ($256,604) | 15 | 23 |
| Duncan, John | R | $2,979 | ($449,895) | ($446,916) | 21 | 34 |
| Fincher, Stephen | R | $679 | ($78,604) | ($77,925) | 11 | 13 |
| Fleischmann, Chuck | R | $165 | ($382,398) | ($382,233) | 13 | 16 |
| Roe, Phil | R | $30,344 | ($307,576) | ($277,232) | 26 | 47 |
| 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, Tennessee’s House delegation would cut spending by an average of $97 billion. Only 14 other delegations would have sought more spending cuts, on average. Every Republican in the House delegation – and each of the Senators as well – was a “net cutter”: if the legislation they each had sponsored were enacted into law, spending would decrease. Their net budget cutting agendas ranged from $78 billion to $478 billion (Representative Marsha Blackburn).
The two Democrats representing Tennessee in the House produced widely divergent net spending agendas. The legislation sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen would increase outlays by over $1 trillion. He 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. In addition to that proposal, he was a cosponsor of 135 other proposals to increase spending. Representative Jim Cooper supported 21 increases and three decreases for a net spending agenda of just under $8 billion.
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: https://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.orgwww.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.