GOP Targets Committees For More Work, Greater Transparency
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
|
Incoming Majority Leader Eric Cantor's 2011 calendar for the House changes the chamber's operations to give committees more time to deliberate and to add greater transparency to their work. In a letter to the members, Cantor emphasizes the importance of committee work, noting oversight hearings dropped roughly 500% since the late 1970s and early '80s. "If we are to reflect the commitment we have made to the voters who elected us, we must reverse this trend," he writes. To that end, he allots time for committees to meet protected from floor votes. The first day of each week, committees can meet uninterrupted before 6:30 p.m. and after 7 p.m. The second and third day of the week, they will be protected from floor votes before 1 p.m. and after 7 p.m. He adds requirements about publishing information on committee activities. "We will hold ourselves accountable in conducting meaningful and deliberative work by posting committee attendance and votes online." He also says there will be one guaranteed five-day period each month to allow representatives to return home for constituent work. Cantor promises to stress "quality over quantity" in a GOP-led House by refusing to consider congratulatory resolutions and consolidating the naming of post offices. Additionally, legislation will be made available three days before committee votes and three days before floor consideration, Cantor says. "Taken together, these reforms will allow more time for quality consideration while increasing the House's efficiency and guaranteeing the public's right to know," he writes. |