What They Are Saying: H.R. 8341, the Cost Estimates Improvement Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, the House Budget Committee marked up five additional budget process reform bills, including H.R. 8341, the “Cost Estimates Improvement Act.” The bill was favorably reported by the House Budget Committee on a bipartisan vote of 17 ayes to 7 nays.

The “Cost Estimates Improvement Act,” sponsored by Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX), Rep. Ed Case (D-HI), Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA), Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), will require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), to the extent practicable, to include the cost of servicing the public debt in legislative cost estimates. 

Stakeholders and industry experts urging swift passage of H.R. 8341 include…

Nan Swift, R Street Institute 

“We pleased to support the “Cost Estimates Improvement Act,” which would provide a more accurate accounting of the true cost of our incessant borrowing. Current practices for producing official cost estimates are inadequate and misleading because they only provide policymakers with a figurative “sticker price” for the proposal but fail to include the cost of financing. Understanding how much a proposed project or policy will add to the debt in total is essential information that will help policymakers gain a more complete understanding of the long-term outlays and economic ramifications of new spending.”