WASHINGTON — A bill sponsored by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill that cuts government waste by standardizing information sharing among federal agencies was approved by the Senate today and will soon go to the President for his signature.
The legislation would ensure the Government Accountability Office has full access to a database essential for cutting waste and fraud in many of the government’s largest programs, as well allowing states to aggressively pursue child support payments. The database, which contains information on recent job hires, was created by Congress in 1996 primarily to assist state-level agencies with enforcement of child support laws. At that time, Congress also provided a large number of oversight agencies access to the database to improve accountability in major federal means-tested programs like Unemployment Insurance, SNAP, EITC, and TANF.
“If we can strengthen oversight, cut down on fraud, and ensure more child-support payments are being made—and it doesn’t cost us a dime—that’s a no brainer,” McCaskill said. “The fact that one federal agency wasn’t sharing this information with another was ridiculous to begin with and it’s past time that it was fixed—I’ll continue to be for any solution that cuts government waste at no cost to taxpayers.”
McCaskill was recently named the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, whose responsibility include conducting oversight of federal agencies. She will lead the committee along with Republican Chairman Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
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