Sen. Bunning Introduces 72 Hour Online Posting Requirement for Bills and Final CBO Score

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 3:33 PM

Today, Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) introduced a resolution to amend the Standing Rules of the Senate to require that no committee or subcommittee may consider any legislative matter unless the legislative matter and a final (! - not a preliminary!) budget scoring by the Congressional Budget Office for the legislative matter has bee nposted on the Internet in a searchable form for 72 hours (excluding weekends and holidays).  The samewould apply for the Senate floor.

It is especially the inclusion of the requirement to get the final CBO score that makes this resolution great - because as we've heard from the CBO director himself, they need the  full legislative langauge and not just conceptual language (or a 'vapor bill' as some call it), and it takes them a few days for them to put it together.  Once a bill is taken off the fast track, there can be a real debate about its merits - or the lack thereof, so passage of the Bunning resolution is critical.

So far, 21 members of the Senate are co-sponsors of the resolution. We're hopeful that this number increases swiftly and that the 8 Democrats who asked Harry Reid for more time yesterday will not hesitate to sign on.Contact your Senator now, and tell him or her to support the Bunning 72 hour resolution.

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