WASHINGTON D.C. (WTVB) – President Obama yesterday signed into law 7th District Michigan GOP Congressman Tim Walberg’s bipartisan bill to increase government accountability and reduce wasteful spending. The Grants Oversight and New Efficiency or GONE Act, requires federal agencies to take action to identify thousands of expired grant accounts with a zero balance that should be closed out.
In a news release, Walberg said, “As the debt clock ticks higher and higher, it is imperative that the federal government starts living within its means”. The GONE Act, according to Walberg, is one common sense way to reduce wasteful spending and ensure taxpayer dollars are not languishing in expired grant accounts or squandered maintaining empty accounts.
In 2012, the Government Accountability Office released a report that identified nearly $1 billion remaining in undisbursed funds within expired grant accounts. It is also estimated that federal agencies spend $2 million dollars per year to maintain accounts with no funds in them.
