Trivial Resolutions Come at a High Cost to Taxpayers

The 112th Congress has already introduced more than 1,200 “simple resolutions,” or bills defined by the Senate as those measures “used to express nonbinding positions of the Senate or to deal with the Senate’s internal affairs, such as the creation of a special committee.”  The vast majority of these resolutions have no legislative significance.  Since the beginning of 2011, more than 230 resolutions have been introduced to commemorate specific days, weeks, months, or years.

For example, Sen. Michael Enzi (R-Wyo.) introduced a resolution designating July 28, 2012 as “National Day of the American Cowboy.”  Other commemorations in July include “World Choir Games Month,” sponsored by Sen. Robert Portman (R-Ohio) and “Collector Car Appreciation Day” on July 13, 2012, sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.).  Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced a resolution expressing support for the designation of a “Worldwide Day of Play.”  Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has sponsored five commemorative resolutions since the beginning of 2011, including a resolution designating the first week in May as “National Physical Education and Sport Week.”

Though difficult to calculate, the cost of congressional resolutions is not insignificant.  The Government Printing Office (GPO) is required to provide Congress with 260 copies of resolutions.  The GPO typically prints between 325 and 475 copies of any bill or resolution, not to exceed a cost of $1,200 in either chamber.  According to a June 6, 2012 article appearing in The Daily Caller, the Senate has spent more than $380,000 printing simple resolutions since the beginning of 2011.

In January of 2011, the House of Representatives voted unanimously in favor of the STOP Act, a bill that would end the mandatory printing of congressional documents, and provide members of Congress with digital copies.  Republicans estimated the savings to be $35 million over the next 10 years.  Predictably, the legislation is now stalled in the Senate.

The federal government should take a lesson from the private sector, which is rapidly moving away from paper to digital documents.  A congressional shift to digital distribution might also have the added benefit of increasing transparency if these bills were released to the public.  All too often, legislation is publicized in unsearchable formats in the hours leading up to a vote, limiting the public’s opportunity for review.