I 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3479 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 31, 2009 Mr. Gordon of Tennessee introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform A BILL To eliminate duplicative Government programs, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Scrapping Unsustainable Redundant Programs Leaves Us Solvent Act of 2009 or the SURPLUS Act.

2.

Purposes

The purposes of this Act are to— (1)reduce America’s debt, now more than $11,000,000,000,000 dollars; (2)eliminate duplicative Government programs, streamlining the way Government operates; (3)secure, for effective programs, the necessary resources; and (4)reduce the overall size of the Federal Government.

3.

Definitions

In this Act: (1)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Attorney General, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. (2)

Program

The term program means any program or initiative housed within a department or agency headed by a Secretary (as defined in paragraph (1)).

4.

Study of existing Federal grant programs

(a)

Study

Each Secretary shall conduct a study to determine if any Federal program within the department or agency concerned is duplicative of one or more other Federal programs under the authority of the department or agency as of the date of the enactment of this Act. (b)

Report

Not later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, each Secretary shall submit to Congress and make available to the public a report that contains the results of the study required under subsection (a).

5.

Termination of duplicative programs

(a)

Requirement To terminate duplicative programs

Except as provided in subsection (b), if a Secretary determines under section 4(a) that any program is duplicative of one or more other Federal programs within the department or agency concerned, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent appropriate, terminate the duplicative Federal program, or consolidate the program with other programs performing similar functions, not later than 180 days after the date of the submission of the report under section 4(b). (b)

Exception

Subsection (a) shall not apply to any program that is required or authorized by statute. (c)

Duplicative program

For purposes of this section, a program shall be considered duplicative of another program if— (1)in the case of a grant program, the Secretary concerned determines that the purpose of the program is to benefit a specific group of persons that is identical to or substantially similar to a group of persons that is eligible for another grant program; and (2)in the case of any other program, the Secretary concerned determines that the program is performing the same essential function as another program.