James Whittier Parker: “I rise in support of H.R. 5. It is not the intent of unfunded mandates reform to eliminate or scale back good programs…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 5. It is not the intent of unfunded mandates reform to eliminate or scale back good programs that help people. The intent is simply to require the Federal Government to pay for the mandates it imposes on the States and municipalities. This is not a difficult concept. It is totally logical. As individuals or a government it is irresponsible to attempt to do everything that may be good and helpful without regard to affordability. The fact is, individuals don't have such a luxury. Only government can do good works and let somebody else pay the cost. Forcing cities and towns to raise local taxes to pay for federally imposed mandates to the point that taxpayers move away from the town is not helpful. Making local budget decisions in Washington by setting local spending priorities through the Federal regulatory process is absurd. By the same token, forcing small businesses to close because they cannot afford the cost of compliance is equally pointless. While we are not addressing the private sector problem with mandates in this legislation, I hope we eventually will do so. These are the issues at stake in unfunded mandate reform legislation. We need to insert reason into our legislative process and get back to reality. I support many of the laws that the opponents of H.R. 5 say are at risk if a prohibition on unfunded mandates is passed. However, that support does not preclude my belief that we must be willing to pay for what we believe in.”