Having recently seen federal transportation money rejected by Florida go to other states, Sen.
Marco Rubio Monday proposed that in the future funds returned to Washington, D.C. by the state’s instead go to pay the national debt.
Rubio, a Republican, introduced the Returned Exclusively For Unpaid National Debt Act, which would allow state’s dedicate returned money to the U.S. Treasury specifically for paying the nation’s outstanding loans, WOFL Fox 35 in Orlando reported Tuesday.
"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," Rubio said. "Fiscally responsible state officials should be allowed to divert Washington's spending spree towards debt reduction and do their part to end the practice of spending money we don't have."
Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., has already introduced a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The proposed bill would allow any state to designate federal funds as "unwanted" through a resolution from the state legislature. These unwanted funds would then be allocated towards debt reduction at the Treasury Department, and require that an annual report be submitted to Congress each year detailing the amount deposited by each state.
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