Halloween is around the corner. While many kids are eagerly awaiting the bounty from trick or treating, taxpayers are also receiving legislative candy. Rather than going door-to-door, however, Washington is bringing it to you. Here’s a review of some of the good, the bad, and the controversial candy Washington is handing out.  

Candy Corn: The bottomless candy corn jar that keeps on giving (… subsidies). Next month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to release a new proposal mandating the use of biofuels in the US. It’s likely to be a treat for corn- and soy-based biofuels. Special interests have also recently (re)filled the candy jar with duplicative blender pump subsidies and new tax credits for sustainable jet fuel and other “clean fuels.” It’s about time this candy jar, which promotes the use of food for fuel, was emptied – for good. 

Red Pencils: Because we’re budget watchdogs, we appreciate that house on the block that hands out pencils – red pencils in our case (for cutting waste, dontcha know!). So, it was a sweet treat when a bi-partisan group of Senators proposed some red-pencil discipline to reform the so-called “Unfunded Priorities Lists” that add tens of billions of dollars to the Pentagon topline every year. Hey Senators Warren (D-MA), Braun (R-IN) and Lee (R-UT), you’re welcome to trick-or-treat at our office any time! 

Klondike bar: What would you do-oo-oo for a Klondike bar? If by Klondike you actually mean the Arctic coastal plane, then apparently nothing! After using the 2017 tax cut bill to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas drilling, almost nobody’s taken a bite. In fact, the only two private companies to gain a lease in the ANWR have rejected their candy and received a full refund. So instead of $1 billion in new revenue, taxpayers are left with a bad taste in our mouth.  

Nerds: Another provision from the Inflation Reduction Act is $90 billion in funding for the green-eyeshade folks at the Internal Revenue Service. While not a favorite of most, a functioning IRS is needed for oral, err, overall fiscal health. This funding will be used to update ancient computer systems, staff the taxpayer help line, and crack down on exotic tax shelters. This should help close some of the $441 billion gap in taxes paid versus taxes owed over a three-year period, that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration recently reported. 

Whoppers: In Fiscal Year 2022 the federal budget deficit was a whopping $1.4 trillion. While that is half of the $2.8 billion deficit in FY2021, it’s still too big for us to swallow. On the campaign trail many Members of Congress have suddenly found their fiscal conservative roots and are talking about deficit reduction. We hope these Members of Congress aren’t donning fiscal conservative costumes they shed once they are elected. We need lawmakers willing to make the tough decisions to align spending with a level of revenue we can stomach. 

Pop Rocks: Our dreams of federal hardrock mining reform were popped this year when hardrock mining provisions were included and then removed from an early draft of the Build Back Better legislation. Our 150-year-old hardrock mining policy gives away valuable hardrock minerals like gold, silver, and copper to mining companies for free, while leaving taxpayers with billions of dollars of cleanup liabilities for abandoned hardrock mines. 

Rocky Road: There is nothing sweet about the Tongass National Forest being exempted from the Roadless Rule, which would open up millions of acres in our largest national forest to road building and logging. Timber sales in the Tongass are a money losing endeavor. Thankfully, the Forest Service is baking up a rule to restore roadless protections in the Tongass and prevent the expansion of its costly timber sale program. 

Whatchamacallit: When it comes to handing out treats to favored interests, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is unmatched. In fact, there are so many goodies handed out as “emergency” assistance it’s hard to keep track of them. There’ve been five different program names – and acronyms – just for disaster aid in the last five years:  the Wildfires and Hurricanes Indemnity Program (WHIP), WHIP+, WHIP++, WHIP Plus 3 Assistance, and now the Emergency Relief Program (ERP). Would we be tricking you if we said WHIP previously stood for a different USDA conservation program – the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program? Unfortunately, no. Whatever you want to call disaster aid, it should be focused, fiscally responsible, and foster resilience, instead of dependence on federal subsidies.  

Circus Peanuts: Congress tricks all taxpayers when they sneak research and development programs into the Pentagon budget each year. Like one of those godawful “Circus Peanuts” your grandma used to tell you were actually treats, these “backdoor earmarks” may taste sweet to defense contractors, but they quickly melt away and take your tax dollars without leaving a trace.  

Payday: It’s finally Payday for taxpayers. New oil and gas leasing reforms implemented by the FY 2022 Budget Reconciliation Bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, are estimated to raise $484 million in revenue over the next decade. For too long, taxpayers have been getting mere peanuts for our valuable oil and gas resources. These much-needed reforms – including updating royalty rates, minimum bids, rental rates, and ending noncompetitive leasing – will help ensure taxpayers get a fair return throughout the onshore leasing program. 

When Halloween and the mid-term elections are over, the frightening lame duck Congress begins. The continuing resolution funding government ends December 16th, there will likely be an omnibus spending bill and a disaster supplemental spending bill, plus the National Defense Authorization Act is awaiting action. What the country doesn’t need is a bunch Smarties, Goobers, and Sour Patch Kid lawmakers more interested in dropping treats in the goodie bags of special interests than passing fiscally responsible legislation and clearing the decks for the 118th Congress.