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Outsourcing Accountability

A Victory To Rein In Federal Contractors
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CLOSING THE LOOPHOLE - NMPIRG’s Ed Mierzwinski was part of a team of advocates that helped pass a law to crack down on private contractors such as KBR, which had avoided paying taxes up until now.

After media reports confirmed that Kellogg, Brown and Root and several other government contractors had set up sham companies in tax havens like the Cayman Islands to avoid paying millions in taxes, NMPIRG took action. And, this spring, we scored a major victory for the public, by making sure taxdodging private contractors are held accountable. The HEART Act rewards members of the military for their service and pays for it by stopping tax gimmicks from some of the government’s largest private contractors.

With our national federation, U.S. PIRG, we organized a coalition of consumer, labor, church and taxpayer groups to urge Congress to close the loophole that allowed private contractors to avoid paying their taxes. Leadership in both chambers responded, and a bill closing the loophole was unanimously approved by both the House and Senate, and was signed by President Bush.

“Americans are working hard and paying their fair share, and we expect contractors that receive billions from the federal government will do the same,” said NMPIRG Staff Attorney John Krieger.

Higher Education

Lower Interest Rates For Students This Fall According to a new report

According to a new report by NMPIRG, new first-year college students can expect to save more than $2,500 on their student loans under new interest rate changes that took effect this summer.

The report, “Cutting Interest Rates, Lowering Student Debt Updated,” finds that, on average, a four-year college student starting in 2008 with subsidized Stafford loans will save about $2,570 over the life of his or her loans. Our research showed that 37 percent of public four-year college graduates and 55 percent of private four-year college graduates have so much debt that they cannot consider careers in social work.

The changes are the result of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, which NMPIRG helped to pass last summer.

“With more students taking out larger loans to pay for college, the interest rate reductions that went into effect this summer will save new low- and middle-income borrowers several thousand dollars over the life of their loans,” said Luke Swarthout, our federal higher education advocate.

Government Transparency

A New Way To Hold Our Government Accountable

In an age of instant information, when people can check online for up-to-date information on everything from local sports to credit reports, there still isn’t an easy way to track down information about government spending.

NMPIRG lauded passage of the Obama-Coburn Federal Funding Transparency and Accountability Act, which created a searchable database of all federal awards to contractors. Citizens, journalists and watchdog groups can find up-to-date information by entering search terms such as “Halliburton” or “Blackwater,” or browse the contracts and tax breaks given by particular agencies.

Now we’re backing efforts to increase the transparency of state government. In December, nine state PIRGs held media events to showcase techniques that states are using to share information on spending, contracting and subsidies with the public.

Our hope is that the increased transparency will result in more feedback from the public when it comes to how tax dollars are spent—and less waste and influence peddling.

In Wisconsin, our sister organization WISPIRG’s advocate, Bruce Speight, was invited to the bill signing with Gov. James Doyle after his testimony helped push through legislation for a statewide online database. And support from Maryland PIRG helped bring victory for a similar accountability system in Maryland.

NMPIRG
Citizen  Update
Winter 2008
Vol. 34, No. 1


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To Our Members

Imagine my surprise on hearing that a veritable army of ExxonMobil lobbyists were lining up for a Senate hearing on a product safety bill. What does ExxonMobil have to do with safe toys?...




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