With America facing a debt crisis, legislatures have gone spelunking for areas of government to cut. Mississippi Republican Rep. Gregg Harper has surfaced with a proposal to eliminate what Ronald Reagan once quipped was the nearest thing to eternal life: a government agency.
Harper’s bill would terminate the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which Congress created in 2002 to implement the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The act was passed primarily to distribute funds to update equipment, a job which Harper says is essentially complete. He is not the only one that believes that. Last year, the National Association of Secretaries of State reaffirmed a 2005 resolution requesting that Congress eliminate the EAC since the body had “served its purpose.”
Harper estimates that getting rid of EAC would save taxpayers an estimated $14 million annually. “You have more than fifty percent of the budget going to administration, a little over 30 percent is going to programs,” Harper told TheDC, pointing out that within three years the agency doubled their staff without adding new responsibilities.
“[EAC was] only designed to be there for a few years.” The bill is pending in the House subcommittee on Elections and currently has 21 co-sponsors. The subcommittee is expected to be mark up the bill this month.
The bill is pending in the House subcommittee on Elections and currently has 21 co-sponsors. The subcommittee is expected to be mark up the bill this month.
Full Article: Congressman seeks to eliminate Election Assitance Commission | The Daily Caller.