Bill Bennett: “I think the misunderstanding comes from some of these private entities who think that passage of this legislation will…”

“I think the misunderstanding comes from some of these private entities who think that passage of this legislation will automatically mean Federal funding of local facilities. In fact, what is happening now, at least in my State, is that the Federal Government is putting a mandate on the public facility in the State and then requiring by virtue of that mandate local taxpayers to come up with the money. So that the public facility is in fact funded, but it is funded on the backs of local taxpayers or State taxpayers rather than Federal taxpayers. And if there is going to be a competitive disadvantage, it may well be the Federal Government says we are not going to come up with the money and the locality says we can in fact achieve the standards more cheaply, and therefore we will have less funding at the local level, and thereby lowering the cost of the public facility. Having been in the competitive business world most of my life, I do not shy from competing with somebody who is dealing with honest costs. And I think the way this legislation will work will be to make the costs more honest rather than dishonest. And it is a fallacy to think that passage of this legislation is automatically going to mean a flood of Federal funding to local projects.”