[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1957 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1957

  To provide taxpayers with an annual report disclosing the cost of, 
performance by, and areas for improvements for Government programs, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 7, 2011

 Mr. Coburn (for himself, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Burr, Mrs. 
McCaskill, Ms. Collins, Mr. Begich, Mr. McCain, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Hatch, 
 Mr. Paul, Mr. Heller, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Coats, Mr. Enzi, Mr. DeMint, Mr. 
 Thune, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Johnson of Wisconsin, Mr. Lee, Mr. Boozman, Mr. 
 Hoeven, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Graham, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Toomey, Mr. 
    McConnell, Mr. Risch, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Inhofe, and Mr. Barrasso) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide taxpayers with an annual report disclosing the cost of, 
performance by, and areas for improvements for Government programs, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Taxpayers Right to Know Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO ANNUAL REPORT ON COST OF, PERFORMANCE 
              BY, AND AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENTS FOR GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.

    (a) Requirement To Identify and Describe Programs.--Each fiscal 
year, for purposes of the report required by subsection (b), the head 
of each agency shall--
            (1) identify and describe every program administered by the 
        agency;
            (2) for each such program--
                    (A) determine the total administrative expenses of 
                the program;
                    (B) determine the expenditures for services for the 
                program;
                    (C) estimate the number of clients served by the 
                program and beneficiaries who received assistance under 
                the program (if applicable); and
                    (D) estimate--
                            (i) the number of full-time employees who 
                        administer the program; and
                            (ii) the number of full-time equivalents 
                        (whose salary is paid in part or full by the 
                        Federal Government through a grant or contract, 
                        a subaward of a grant or contract, a 
                        cooperative agreement, or another form of 
                        financial award or assistance) who assist in 
                        administering the program; and
            (3) identify programs within the Federal Government 
        (whether inside or outside the agency) with duplicative or 
        overlapping missions, services, and allowable uses of funds.
    (b) Relationship to Catalog of Domestic Assistance.--With respect 
to the requirements of subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2)(B), the head of an 
agency may use the same information provided in the catalog of domestic 
and international assistance programs in the case of any program that 
is a domestic or international assistance program.
    (c) Report.--Not later than February 1 of each fiscal year, the 
head of each agency shall publish on the official public website of the 
agency a report containing the following:
            (1) The information required under subsection (a) with 
        respect to the preceding fiscal year.
            (2) The latest performance reviews (including the program 
        performance reports required under section 1116 of title 31, 
        United States Code) of each program of the agency identified 
        under subsection (a)(1), including performance indicators, 
        performance goals, output measures, and other specific metrics 
        used to review the program and how the program performed on 
        each.
            (3) For each program that makes payments, the latest 
        improper payment rate of the program and the total estimated 
        amount of improper payments, including fraudulent payments and 
        overpayments.
            (4) The total amount of unspent and unobligated program 
        funds held by the agency and grant recipients (not including 
        individuals) stated as an amount--
                    (A) held as of the beginning of the fiscal year in 
                which the report is submitted; and
                    (B) held for five fiscal years or more.
            (5) Such recommendations as the head of the agency 
        considers appropriate--
                    (A) to consolidate programs that are duplicative or 
                overlapping;
                    (B) to eliminate waste and inefficiency; and
                    (C) to terminate lower priority, outdated, and 
                unnecessary programs and initiatives.
    (d) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) Administrative expenses.--The term ``administrative 
        costs'' has the meaning as determined by the Director of the 
        Office of Management and Budget under section 504(b)(2) of 
        Public Law 111-85 (31 U.S.C. 1105 note), except the term shall 
        also include, for purposes of that section and this section, 
        with respect to an agency--
                    (A) costs incurred by the agency as well as costs 
                incurred by grantees, subgrantees, and other recipients 
                of funds from a grant program or other program 
                administered by the agency; and
                    (B) expenses related to personnel salaries and 
                benefits, property management, travel, program 
                management, promotion, reviews and audits, case 
                management, and communication about, promotion of, and 
                outreach for programs and program activities 
                administered by the agency.
            (2) Services.--The term ``services'' has the meaning 
        provided by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
        and shall be limited to only activities, assistance, and aid 
        that provide a direct benefit to a recipient, such as the 
        provision of medical care, assistance for housing or tuition, 
        or financial support (including grants and loans).
            (3) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the same meaning given 
        that term in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code, 
        except that the term also includes offices in the legislative 
        branch other than the Government Accountability Office.
            (4) Performance indicator, performance goal, output 
        measure, program activity.--The terms ``performance 
        indicator'', ``performance goal'', ``output measure'', and 
        ``program activity'' have the meanings provided by section 1115 
        of title 31, United States Code.
            (5) Program.--The term ``program'' has the meaning provided 
        by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and 
        shall include, with respect to an agency, any organized set of 
        activities directed toward a common purpose or goal undertaken 
        by the agency that includes services, projects, processes, or 
        financial or other forms of assistance, including grants, 
        contracts, cooperative agreements, compacts, loans, leases, 
        technical support, consultation, or other guidance.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO CATALOG OF FEDERAL DOMESTIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.

    (a) Addition of International Assistance Programs.--
            (1) In general.--Section 6101 of title 31, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) The term `international assistance' has the meaning 
        provided by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
        and shall include, with respect to an agency, assistance 
        including grants, contracts, compacts, loans, leases, and other 
        financial and technical support to--
                    ``(A) foreign nations;
                    ``(B) international organizations;
                    ``(C) services provided by programs administered by 
                any agency outside of the territory of the United 
                States; and
                    ``(D) services funded by any agency provided in 
                foreign nations or outside of the territory of the 
                United States by non-governmental organizations and 
                entities.
            ``(8) The term `assistance program' means each of the 
        following:
                    ``(A) A domestic assistance program.
                    ``(B) An international assistance program.''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--
                    (A) Section 6102 of title 31, Untied States Code, 
                is amended--
                            (i) in subsection (a), in the matter 
                        preceding paragraph (1), by striking 
                        ``domestic'' both places it appears; and
                            (ii) in subsection (b), by striking 
                        ``domestic''.
                    (B) Section 6104 of such title is amended--
                            (i) in subsections (a) and (b), by 
                        inserting ``and international assistance'' 
                        after ``domestic assistance'' each place it 
                        appears; and
                            (ii) in the section heading, by inserting 
                        ``and international'' after ``domestic''.
    (b) Additional Information Required To Be Included Catalog.--
Section 6104(b) of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (2);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (3) and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
            ``(4) the information required in paragraphs (1) through 
        (4) of subsection (b) of the Taxpayers Right to Know Act;
            ``(5) the budget function or functions applicable to each 
        assistance program contained in the catalog;
            ``(6) with respect to each assistance program in the 
        catalog, an electronic link to the annual report required by 
        section 2(b) of the Taxpayers Right to Know Act by the agency 
        that carries out the assistance program; and
            ``(7) the authorization and appropriation amount provided 
        by law for each assistance program in the catalog in the 
        current fiscal year, and a notation if the program is not 
        authorized in the current year, has not been authorized in law, 
        or does not receive a specific line item appropriation.''.
    (c) Report Related to Compliance With Catalog Requirements.--
Section 6104 of title 31, United States Code, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e) Compliance.--On the website of the catalog of Federal 
domestic and international assistance information, the Administrator 
shall provide the following:
            ``(1) Contact information.--The title and contact 
        information for the person in each agency responsible for the 
        implementation, compliance, and quality of the data in the 
        catalog.
            ``(2) Report.--An annual report compiled by the 
        Administrator of domestic assistance programs, international 
        assistance programs, and agencies with respect to which the 
        requirements of this chapter are not met.''.
    (d) Bulk Downloads of Data.--Section 6103 of such title is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Bulk Downloads.--The information in the catalog of domestic 
and international assistance under section 6104 of this title shall be 
available on a regular basis through bulk downloads from the website of 
the catalog.''.
    (e) Revision to Agency Definition.--Section 6101(2) of such title 
is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: 
``except such term also includes offices in the legislative branch 
other than the Government Accountability Office''.

SEC. 4. REGULATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION.

    (a) Regulations.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget shall prescribe regulations to implement this Act.
    (b) Implementation.--This Act shall be implemented beginning with 
the first full fiscal year occurring after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
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