Marco Rubio Unveils REFUND Act to Help Pay Down National Debt

On Tuesday, Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio introduced a proposal that would allow states that refused federal funds to direct those monies to help pay down the national debt. Earlier in the year, Gov. Rick Scott turned down federal funds directed toward building a high-speed rail linking Orlando and Tampa.

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Rubio dubbed the bill, which is being sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., the Returned Exclusively For Unpaid National Debt (REFUND) Act.

The REFUND Act ends the use-it-or-lose-it mentality that encourages states to take debt-financed cash from Washington that will be a crushing burden on our children and grandchildren, said Rubio. Fiscally responsible state officials should be allowed to divert Washington's spending spree toward debt reduction and do their part to end the practice of spending money we don't have."

In just three pages, the REFUND Act restores a big piece of fiscal sanity to Washington, D.C., insisted Rehberg, who is running for the U.S. Senate in 2012. Its really very simple. If a responsible state tightens its belt to save tax dollars, we shouldnt be rewarding irresponsible states by adding those savings to their take.Weve got to put an end to the Washington system that subjects state lawmakers to partisan attacks for having the audacity to save the taxpayer money. Instead of the wasteful use-it-or-lose-it approach to federal spending, the REFUND Act creates an efficient system that operates on the principle of a dollar saved is a dollar earned.

Rubios and Rehbergs proposal would allow state legislatures to vote to refuse the federal monies directed toward various projects and reallocate them toward lowering the national debt. The proposal would also require the U.S. Treasury Department to send an annual report to Congress detailing how the monies were allocated to lower the debt.