CRFB Applauds Senate Introduction of 3% Fiscal Goal

Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Angus King (I-ME), joined by Senators David McCormick (R-PA) and Gary Peters (D-MI), introduced a resolution in the Senate last week calling for setting a target of reducing deficits to 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The resolution resembles a House version introduced by Representatives Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Scott Peters (D-CA), Lloyd Smucker (R-PA), Mike Quigley (D-IL) and others in the Bipartisan Fiscal Forum earlier this year.

The 3% target was called for by the Board of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and has the support of numerous Members of Congress, Administration officials, business leaders, and outside experts.

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:  

With debt approaching record levels and interest costs exploding, there is finally real momentum behind the idea of bringing our deficits down to reasonable levels. There’s now support for a 3% of GDP deficit target in both parties, both chambers of Congress, and the two branches of government involved in the budget process – not to mention some of the nation’s top thought leaders and countries around the world.

The 3% of GDP deficit target is aggressive enough that it would put our debt-to-GDP on a sustainable path, and it’s viable enough that it could actually be achieved. It has broad domestic support and international precedent, and would be enough to assure markets that we’re not on a road toward a fiscal crisis.  

Of course, talk is cheap. Saying you want to reduce deficits to 3% of GDP is a lot easier than actually doing it. We’ll need to follow the talk with action – including real measures to lower health care costs, secure the trust funds, cap and reduce spending, and raise new revenue.

But the first step to achieving a fiscal goal is setting one. Just agreeing on the 3% target represents significant movement toward fiscal sanity.  

We commend Senators Cramer, King, McCormick, and Peters for introducing this resolution, and we encourage their colleagues to get on board.

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For more information, please contact Matt Klucher, Assistant Director for Media Relations, at klucher@crfb.org.