U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, recently offered an amendment to the Small Business Reauthorization Act, S. 493, that would create a Federal Sunset Commission modeled after the Texas commission, which examines state programs to identify wasteful spending and duplicative programs.

The efforts of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, created in 1977, have led to the elimination of dozens of agencies that have outlived their usefulness and have saved Texas taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Cornyn’s amendment comes after the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a revealing report on overlapping and duplicative federal spending. Among its findings, the GAO identified 82 federal programs to improve teacher quality, 80 to help disadvantaged people with transportation, 47 for job training and employment and 56 to help people understand finances. The report highlighted areas where different departments and agencies could be streamlining and coordinating to save billions in taxpayer money.

Cornyn’s amendment would create an eight-member bipartisan commission, including four U.S. senators and four U.S. representatives, who will examine the effectiveness and efficiency of federal programs and agencies.

The commission would make recommendations on whether these programs require reform or should be eliminated all together.

The President’s own Fiscal Commission recently highlighted the Texas sunset experience as a way to save federal taxpayers’ money: www.fiscalcommission.gov/.