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ROSS HELPS PASS ‘PAY-AS-YOU-GO’ RULE FOR BUDGET

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 9:01 PM CDT

SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Mike Ross (D-Prescott) Wednesday helped pass in the House of Representatives the Fiscal Honesty and Accountability Act of 2009. The bill will re-instate the binding pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules that helped lead to balanced budgets in the 1990s. It passed the House on a vote of 265 to 166 and will now move to the Senate.

“For too long fiscal irresponsibility has dominated Washington and this bill intends to fix that,” said Ross, a key leader of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. “If Arkansas families and small businesses are expected to balance their budgets, so should the federal government. PAYGO is a common sense approach to get us back on the path toward a balanced budget.”

The PAYGO bill requires Congress to pay for the costs of tax cuts or increases in entitlement spending with savings elsewhere in the budget. Ross and other Blue Dogs met with President Obama and White House officials several times throughout the year, reiterating the need for fiscal responsibility in Washington and the President is expected to sign the legislation.

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