[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 994 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 994
To expand the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of
2006 to increase accountability and transparency in Federal spending,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 21, 2013
Mr. Warner (for himself and Mr. Portman) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To expand the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of
2006 to increase accountability and transparency in Federal spending,
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 ``Digital Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2013''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to--
(1) expand the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006 by disclosing direct Federal agency
expenditures and linking Federal contract, loan, and grant
spending information to programs of Federal agencies in order
to enable taxpayers and policy makers to track Federal spending
more effectively;
(2) provide consistent, reliable, and searchable
Government-wide spending data that is displayed accurately for
taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov;
(3) analyze Federal spending data to proactively prevent
waste, fraud, abuse, and improper payments;
(4) simplify reporting for entities receiving Federal funds
by streamlining reporting requirements and reducing compliance
costs while improving transparency; and
(5) improve the quality of data submitted to
USASpending.gov by holding Federal agencies accountable for the
completeness and accuracy of the data submitted.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL FUNDING ACCOUNTABILITY AND
TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2006.
(a) In General.--Section 2 of the Federal Funding Accountability
and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended--
(1) in the section heading, by striking ``full disclosure
of entities receiving federal funding'' and inserting
``disclosure of federal funding'';
(2) in subsection (a)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as
paragraphs (3) and (7), respectively;
(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
``(2) Federal agency.--The term `Federal agency' has the
meaning given the term `Executive agency' under section 105 of
title 5, United States Code.'';
(C) by inserting after paragraph (3), as
redesignated by subparagraph (A), the following:
``(4) Federal funds.--The term `Federal funds' means any
funds that are made available to or expended by a Federal
agency.
``(5) Object class.--The term `object class' means the
category assigned for purposes of the annual budget of the
President submitted under section 1105(a) of title 31, United
States Code, to the type of property or services purchased by
the Federal Government.
``(6) Program activity.--The term `program activity' has
the meaning given that term under section 1115(h) of title 31,
United States Code.''; and
(D) in paragraph (7), as redesignated by
subparagraph (A)--
(i) in subparagraph (B), by striking
``paragraph (2)(A)(i)'' and inserting
``paragraph (3)(A)(i)''; and
(ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking
``paragraph (2)(A)(ii)'' and inserting
``paragraph (3)(A)(ii)'';
(3) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``the Office of Management
and Budget'' and inserting ``the Secretary of
the Treasury'' each place it appears;
(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A)
through (G) as clauses (i) through (vii),
respectively, and adjusting the margin
accordingly;
(iii) by striking ``for each Federal
award--'' and inserting the following: ``for
all Federal funds--
``(A) for each Federal agency, component of a
Federal agency, appropriations account, program
activity, and object class (including any subcomponent
of an object class), and other accounts or data as
appropriate--
``(i) the amount of budget authority
available;
``(ii) the amount obligated;
``(iii) the amount of outlays;
``(iv) the amount of any Federal funds
reprogrammed or transferred; and
``(v) the amount of expired and unexpired
unobligated balances; and
``(B) for each Federal award--''; and
(iv) in subparagraph (B)(iii), as so
designated by this subparagraph, by inserting
``, which shall be assigned a unique
identifier,'' after ``information on the
award'';
(B) in paragraph (3)--
(i) by striking ``Director of the Office of
Management and Budget'' and inserting
``Secretary of the Treasury''; and
(ii) by striking ``the Director may'' and
inserting ``the Secretary may'';
(C) in paragraph (4)--
(i) by striking ``Director of the Office of
Management and Budget'' and inserting
``Secretary of the Treasury'';
(ii) by striking ``the Director upon'' and
inserting ``the Secretary upon''; and
(iii) by striking ``the Director in'' and
inserting ``the Secretary in''; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(5) Application of data standards.--The Secretary of the
Treasury shall apply the data standards established by the
Secretary of the Treasury under subsection (e) to all data
collection, data dissemination, and data publication required
under this section.
``(6) Data feed to recovery accountability and transparency
board.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall provide the data
described in paragraph (1) to the Recovery Accountability and
Transparency Board for inclusion in the Recovery Operations
Center described in subsection (h).'';
(4) in subsection (c)--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A), by striking ``and Grants.gov'' and
inserting ``Grants.gov, the Payment Automation
Manager and Federal Information Repository and
other data or databases from the Department of
the Treasury, the MAX Information System of the
Office of Management and Budget, and other data
from Federal agencies collected and identified
by the Office of Management and Budget'';
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by adding ``and''
at the end; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) specify such search shall be confined to
Federal funds;'';
(B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``the Payment
Automation Manager and Federal Information Repository
and other data or databases from the Department of the
Treasury, the MAX Information System of the Office of
Management and Budget, other data from Federal agencies
collected and identified by the Office of Management
and Budget,'' after ``Grants.gov website,'';
(C) in paragraph (4)--
(i) by striking ``shall be updated not
later'' and inserting the following: ``shall be
updated--
``(A) not later''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) not less than once each quarter with
information relating to Federal funds;'';
(D) in paragraph (5)--
(i) by inserting ``Federal funds and''
before ``Federal awards'' the first place it
appears;
(ii) by striking ``subsection (a)(2)(A)(i)
and those described in subsection
(a)(2)(A)(ii)'' and inserting ``subsection
(a)(3)(A)(i) and those described in subsection
(a)(3)(A)(ii)''; and
(iii) by striking the period at the end and
inserting a semicolon; and
(E) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) shall have the ability to aggregate data for the
categories described in paragraphs (1) through (5) without
double-counting data; and
``(7) shall permit all information published under this
section to be downloaded in bulk.'';
(5) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (g) as
subsections (i), (j), and (k), respectively; and
(6) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
``(e) Department of the Treasury Requirements.--
``(1) Data standards.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury,
in consultation with the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget, the Administrator of General
Services, and the heads of Federal agencies, shall
establish Government-wide financial data standards for
Federal funds, which shall--
``(i) include common data elements, such as
codes, unique award identifiers, and fields,
for financial and payment information required
to be reported by Federal agencies and entities
receiving Federal funds, including identifiers
for Federal awards and entities receiving
Federal awards;
``(ii) to the extent reasonable and
practicable, ensure interoperability and
incorporate--
``(I) common data elements
developed and maintained by an
international voluntary consensus
standards body, as defined by the
Office of Management and Budget, such
as the International Organization for
Standardization;
``(II) common data elements
developed and maintained by Federal
agencies with authority over
contracting and financial assistance,
such as the Federal Acquisition
Regulatory Council; and
``(III) common data elements
developed and maintained by accounting
standards organizations; and
``(iii) include data reporting standards
that--
``(I) incorporate a widely
accepted, nonproprietary, searchable,
platform-independent computer-readable
format;
``(II) be consistent with and
implement applicable accounting
principles;
``(III) be capable of being
continually upgraded as necessary;
``(IV) are structured to
specifically support the reporting of
financial and performance-related data,
such as that any data produced,
regardless of reporting need or
software used for creation or
consumption, is consistent and
comparable across reporting situations;
``(V) establish, for each data
point, a standard method of conveying
the reporting period, reporting entity,
unit of measure, and other associated
attributes; and
``(VI) incorporate nonproprietary
standards in effect on the date of
enactment of the Digital Accountability
and Transparency Act of 2013.
``(B) Deadlines.--
``(i) Guidance.--The Secretary of the
Treasury, in consultation with the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget, shall
issue guidance on the data standards
established under subparagraph (A) to Federal
agencies not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of the Digital Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2013.
``(ii) Website.--Not later than 1 year
after the date on which the guidance under
clause (i) is issued, the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget shall ensure
that the website required under this section
makes data publically available in accordance
with the data standards established under
subparagraph (A).
``(iii) Agencies.--Not later than 180 days
after the date on which the guidance under
clause (i) is issued, each Federal agency shall
collect, report, and maintain data in
accordance with the data standards established
under subparagraph (A).
``(C) Consultation.--The Secretary of the Treasury
shall consult with public and private stakeholders in
establishing data standards under this paragraph.
``(2) Improper payment prevention.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury,
in consultation with the heads and Inspectors General
of Federal agencies, shall use the data to which the
data standards established under paragraph (1) apply
and other available data (including available data from
State and local governments) to detect, prevent, and
recover improper payments through pre-award, post-award
pre-payment, and post-payment analysis, which shall
include analysis and investigations incorporating--
``(i) review and data matching of payments
and beneficiary enrollment lists of State
programs carried out using Federal funds for
the purposes of identifying eligibility
duplication, residency ineligibility, duplicate
payments, or other potential improper payment
issues;
``(ii) review of multiple Federal agencies
and programs for which comparison of data could
show payment duplication; and
``(iii) review of other information the
Secretary of the Treasury determines are
effective, which may include investigation or
review of information from multiple Federal
agencies or programs.
``(B) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of the Digital Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2013, the Secretary of the Treasury
shall submit to Congress a report, which may be
included as part of another report submitted to
Congress, which shall include a description of--
``(i) the implementation of the fraud
prevention efforts described under subparagraph
(A); and
``(ii) the metrics used in determining
whether the fraud prevention efforts have
reduced, or contributed to the reduction of,
improper payments or improper awards.
``(3) Improvements to access to data.--
``(A) In general.--In order to carry out this Act,
upon request by the Secretary of the Treasury--
``(i) the Commissioner of Social Security
shall make available the Social Security
earnings information of a living or deceased
employee;
``(ii) the Director of the Bureau of
Prisons shall make available information
relating to Federal prisoners; and
``(iii) the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development shall make available information in
the Credit Alert Verification System of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
``(B) Use and protection of information.--The
Secretary of the Treasury--
``(i) may only use information obtained
under subparagraph (A) to assist in Federal
debt collection and in the prevention,
identification or recovery of improper
payments; and
``(ii) shall ensure that data to which the
data standards established under paragraph (1)
apply is adequately protected and collected in
a manner consistent with privacy protections
provided for by law.
``(f) Consolidated Recipient Financial Reports.--The Director of
the Office of Management and Budget shall--
``(1) review the financial reporting required by Federal
agencies for Federal award recipients to reduce duplicative
financial reporting and compliance costs for recipients;
``(2) request input from Federal award recipients to reduce
duplicative financial reporting, especially from State and
local governments and institutes of higher education;
``(3) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013,
provide instructions to the heads of Federal agencies regarding
how to simplify the reporting requirements for Federal award
recipients to reduce duplicative reporting and reports to
reduce compliance costs, as appropriate; and
``(4) not later than 18 months after the date of enactment
of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013,
submit to Congress a report regarding any legislative action
required to streamline the reporting requirements for Federal
award recipients.
``(g) Accountability for Federal Funding.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of
2013, and every 2 years thereafter until the date that is 6
years after such date of enactment, the Inspector General of
each Federal agency, in consultation with the Comptroller
General of the United States, shall review a sampling of the
spending data submitted under this Act by the Federal agency
and shall submit to Congress and make publically available a
report in on the completeness, timeliness, quality, and
accuracy of the data sampled and the implementation and use of
consistent data standards by the Federal agency.
``(2) Comptroller general.--
``(A) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the
date of enactment of the Digital Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2013, and every 2 years thereafter
until the date that is 6 years after such date of
enactment, and after review of the reports submitted
under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General of the
United States shall submit to Congress and make
publically available a report on the data completeness,
timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data submitted
under this Act by each Federal agency and the
implementation and use of consistent data standards by
each Federal agency.
``(B) Ranking.--The Comptroller General of the
United States shall make available a ranking of Federal
agencies regarding data quality, accuracy, and
compliance with this Act.
``(h) Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.--
``(1) Resources and mechanisms.--The Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board shall develop and test
information technology resources and oversight mechanisms to
enhance the transparency of, and detect and remediate waste,
fraud, and abuse in, Federal spending for Inspectors General.
``(2) Website.--The Recovery Accountability and
Transparency Board shall maintain a website informing the
public of the activities of the Recovery Accountability and
Transparency Board to identify waste, fraud, and abuse and
increase transparency of Federal spending to provide analytical
support for Inspectors General.
``(3) Recovery operations center.--The Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board shall establish and
maintain a Recovery Operations Center as a governmentwide
Internet-based data access system to carry out the functions
described in paragraph (4).
``(4) Functions of the recovery operations center.--The
functions described in this paragraph are the following:
``(A) In general.--The Recovery Operations Center
shall incorporate--
``(i) all information described in
subsection (b)(1);
``(ii) other information maintained by
Federal, State, local, and foreign government
agencies; and
``(iii) other commercially and publicly
available information.
``(B) Specific functions.--The Recovery Operations
Center shall be designed and operated to carry out the
following functions:
``(i) Combine information described in
subsection (b)(1) with other compilations of
information, including those listed in
subparagraph (A).
``(ii) Permit Inspectors Generals, in
accordance with applicable law, to detect and
remediate waste, fraud, and abuse.''.
SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM TO EVALUATE CONSOLIDATED RECIPIENT REPORTING.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, in
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of the
Office of Management, shall establish a pilot program relating to
reporting by recipients of Federal funds (in this section referred to
as the ``pilot program'') for the purpose of increasing financial
transparency to--
(1) display the full cycle of Federal funds;
(2) improve the accuracy of Federal financial data; and
(3) develop recommendations for reducing reporting required
of recipients of Federal funds by consolidating and automating
financial reporting requirements across the Federal Government.
(b) Requirements.--The pilot program shall--
(1) include recipients that collectively receive not less
than $1,000,000,000 in Federal funds each fiscal year;
(2) include recipients that receive Federal funds under
multiple programs across multiple agencies; and
(3) include recipients that collectively receive Federal
funds under contracts, grants, and subawards.
(c) Reporting and Evaluation Requirements.--Each recipient of
Federal funds participating in the pilot program shall submit to the
Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board reports on the finances
of the selected Federal awards.
(d) Publication of Information.--All the information collected by
the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board under the pilot
program shall be made publicly available and searchable on the website
established under section 2 of the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).
(e) Termination.--The pilot program shall terminate on the date
that is 3 years after the date on which the Recovery Accountability and
Transparency Board establishes the pilot program.
(f) Report to Congress.--Not later than 90 days after the date on
which the pilot program terminates under subsection (e), the Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board shall submit to the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee on the
Budget of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform and the Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives
a report on the pilot program, which shall include--
(1) a description of financial data collected under the
pilot program, the accuracy of the data provided, and the cost
to collect the data from recipients; and
(2) recommendations for--
(A) consolidating some or all aspects of Federal
financial reporting to reduce the costs to recipients
of Federal funds;
(B) automating some or all aspects of Federal
financial reporting to increase efficiency and reduce
the costs to recipients of Federal funds; and
(C) improving financial transparency.
SEC. 5. CLASSIFIED AND PROTECTED INFORMATION.
Section 3 of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency
Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 3. CLASSIFIED AND PROTECTED INFORMATION.
``Nothing in this Act shall require the disclosure to the public or
to any person without an identifiable need to know--
``(1) information protected under section 552 of title 5,
United States Code (commonly known as the `Freedom of
Information Act'); or
``(2) information protected under section 552a of title 5,
United States Code (commonly known as the `Privacy Act of
1974'), or section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986.''.
SEC. 6. EXPANDING ACCESS BY THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY TO THE
NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF NEW HIRES.
Section 453(j)(9) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653(j)(9))
is amended--
(1) in the paragraph heading, by inserting ``and in the
prevention, identification, and recovery of improper payments''
after ``collection'';
(2) in subparagraph (A)--
(A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking
``with respect to persons--'' and inserting ``to assist
in Federal debt collection and in the prevention,
identification, or recovery of improper payments with
respect to--'';
(B) by striking ``who owe'' and inserting the
following: ``persons--
``(I) who owe'';
(C) by striking ``31 U.S.C. 3711(g).'' and
inserting ``section 3711(g) of title 31, United States
Code; or'';
(D) redesignating clause (ii) as subclause (II),
and adjusting the margin accordingly; and
(E) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) persons--
``(I) who receive a payment the
head of a Federal executive, judicial,
or legislative agency certifies is
under review to determine the
eligibility of the person to receive
the payment; or
``(II) whose eligibility, or
continuing eligibility, to participate
in a program of the Federal Government
(including a program administered by a
State or local government) is being
reviewed.'';
(3) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``to improve
collection of the debt'' and inserting ``for the purposes'';
(4) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``of collecting the
debt'';
(5) in subparagraph (E)--
(A) in clause (i), by striking ``of collecting the
debt'';
(B) in clause (ii), by inserting ``and to a
Federal, State, or local agency in connection with
preventing, identifying, or recovering improper
payments as described in subparagraph (A)'' before the
period at the end;
(C) in clause (iv)(II), by striking ``described in
subparagraph (A),'' and all that follows and inserting
``, in connection with a purpose described in
subparagraph (A), to a contractor or agent of either
Secretary, to the Federal agency (including any
contractor or agent of the Federal agency) that
referred a debt to the Secretary of the Treasury for
collection, or to a Federal, State, or local agency
(including any contractor or agent of any such agency)
for purposes of preventing, identifying, or recovering
improper payments, subject to the conditions in clause
(iii) and such additional conditions as agreed by the
Secretaries.''; and
(D) in clause (v), by striking ``collecting the
debt'' and inserting ``the purposes''; and
(6) in subparagraph (F), by adding at the end the
following: ``The Secretary of the Treasury shall reimburse the
Secretary for any costs attributable to the prevention,
identification, or recovery of improper payments out of any
appropriation available to the Secretary of the Treasury for
this purpose.''.
SEC. 7. AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009 AMENDMENTS.
Title XV of division A of the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5; 123 Stat. 286) is amended--
(1) in section 1501, by striking paragraph (4) and
inserting the following:
``(4) Covered funds.--The term `covered funds'--
``(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), means
any funds that are expended or obligated from
appropriations made under this Act; and
``(B) for purposes of sections 1522 and 1524, means
funds that are expended or obligated by an agency from
appropriations made under this or any other Act.'';
(2) in section 1512, by adding at the end the following:
``(i) Expiration.--The requirements under this section shall
terminate on September 30, 2013.'';
(3) in section 1523, by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Expiration.--The requirements under this section shall
terminate on September 30, 2013.'';
(4) in section 1526, by adding at the end the following:
``(e) Expiration.--The requirements under this section shall
terminate on September 30, 2013.''; and
(5) in section 1530, by striking ``September 30, 2013,''
and inserting ``September 30, 2017.''.
SEC. 8. DISASTER RELIEF APPROPRIATIONS ACT OF 2013 AMENDMENTS.
Section 904(d) of division A of the Disaster Relief Appropriations
Act of 2013 (Public Law 113-2; 127 Stat. 18) is amended in section
904(d)--
(1) by striking ``for purposes related to the impact of
Hurricane Sandy'';
(2) by striking ``related to the impact of Hurricane
Sandy'' after ``receiving appropriations''; and
(3) by striking ``related to funds appropriated for the
impact of Hurricane Sandy'' after ``on its activities''.
SEC. 9. EXECUTIVE AGENCY ACCOUNTING AND OTHER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
REPORTS AND PLANS.
Section 3512(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``and make available on
the website described under section 1122'' after ``appropriate
committees of Congress'';
(2) in paragraph (3)(B)(vi), by inserting ``, system
development, financial management workforce development,
related risk assessment and mitigation for the Federal
Government as a whole, related risk assessment and mitigation
for executive agencies, development of capacity to prevent and
detect fraud,'' after ``equipment acquisitions''; and
(3) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the following:
``(C) Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013, and every 90 days
thereafter, the Director shall make available on the website described
under section 1122 a report regarding--
``(i) specific goals for the most recent full fiscal year,
the fiscal year during which the report is submitted, and the
fiscal year following the year during which the report is
submitted that are necessary steps toward implementing the
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31
U.S.C. 6101 note) fully and in an effective, efficient, and
accurate manner; and
``(ii) the status and progress achieved toward each goal
described in clause (i), including any changes to the cost,
schedule, or performance baselines of achieving each goal,
using earned value management where appropriate.''.
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