[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 272 Reported in Senate (RS)]

<DOC>





                                                        Calendar No. 66
117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 272

                          [Report No. 117-23]

  To amend the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 
 2006, to require the budget justifications and appropriation requests 
                of agencies be made publicly available.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 8, 2021

 Mr. Peters (for himself, Mr. Portman, Mr. Carper, Mr. Cornyn, and Ms. 
Ernst) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 
     to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

                              May 27, 2021

               Reported by Mr. Peters, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 
 2006, to require the budget justifications and appropriation requests 
                of agencies be made publicly available.

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

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Congressional Budget 
Justification Transparency Act of 2021''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF BUDGET JUSTIFICATIONS AND 
              APPROPRIATION REQUESTS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--Section 3 of the Federal Funding 
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is 
amended to read as follows:</DELETED>

<DELETED>``SEC. 3. FULL DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    ``(a) In General.--Not less frequently than monthly when 
practicable, and in any event not less frequently than quarterly, the 
Secretary (in consultation with the Director and, with respect to 
information described in subsection (b)(2), the head of the applicable 
agency (as defined in subsection (b)(1))) shall ensure that updated 
information with respect to the information described in subsection (b) 
is posted on the website established under section 2.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(b) Information To Be Posted.--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(1) Funds.--For any funds made available to or 
        expended by a Federal agency or component of a Federal agency, 
        the information to be posted shall include--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) for each appropriations account, 
                including an expired or unexpired appropriations 
                account, the amount--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) of budget authority 
                        appropriated;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) that is 
                        obligated;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iii) of unobligated balances; 
                        and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iv) of any other budgetary 
                        resources;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) from which accounts and in what 
                amount--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) appropriations are obligated 
                        for each program activity; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) outlays are made for each 
                        program activity;</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) from which accounts and in what 
                amount--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) appropriations are obligated 
                        for each object class; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) outlays are made for each 
                        object class; and</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(D) for each program activity, the 
                amount--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) obligated for each object 
                        class; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) of outlays made for each 
                        object class.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(2) Budget justifications.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
                </DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) the term `agency' has the 
                        meaning given that term in section 101 of title 
                        31, United States Code;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) the term `budget 
                        justification materials' means the annual 
                        budget justification materials of an agency 
                        that are submitted, in conjunction with the 
                        budget of the United States Government 
                        submitted under section 1105(a) of title 31, 
                        United States Code; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iii) the term `open Government 
                        data asset' has the meaning given that term in 
                        section 3502 of title 44, United States 
                        Code).</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(B) Information.--The information to be 
                posted--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) shall include any budget 
                        justification materials--</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(I) for the second 
                                fiscal year beginning after the date of 
                                enactment of this paragraph, and each 
                                fiscal year thereafter; and</DELETED>
                                <DELETED>    ``(II) to the extent 
                                practicable, that were released for any 
                                fiscal year before the date of 
                                enactment of this paragraph; 
                                and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) shall not include any 
                        portion of the budget justification materials 
                        the disclosure of which is prohibited by law, 
                        that contains classified information, or that 
                        is exempt from disclosure under paragraph (1) 
                        of section 552(b) of title 5, United States 
                        Code.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(C) Format.--Budget justification 
                materials shall be posted under subparagraph (B)--
                </DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(i) as an open Government data 
                        asset;</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(ii) in a manner that enables 
                        users to download individual reports, download 
                        all reports in bulk, and download in bulk the 
                        results of a search, to the extent practicable; 
                        and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    ``(iii) in a structured data 
                        format, to the extent practicable.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(D) Deadline.--The budget justification 
                materials required to be posted under subparagraph 
                (B)(i) shall be posted not later than 2 weeks after the 
                date on which the budget justification materials are 
                first submitted to Congress.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    ``(E) Rule of construction.--Nothing in 
                this paragraph shall be construed to authorize an 
                agency to destroy any budget justification materials 
                relating to a fiscal year before the fiscal year 
                described in subparagraph (B)(i).''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Information Regarding Agency Budget Justifications.--
Section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at 
the end the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(i)(1) The Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget shall make publicly available on a website, and continuously 
update, a tabular list for each fiscal year of each agency that submits 
budget justification materials, which shall include--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(A) the name of the agency;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(B) a unique identifier that identifies the 
        agency;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(C) to the extent practicable, the date on which 
        the budget justification materials of the agency are first 
        submitted to Congress;</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(D) the date on which the budget justification 
        materials of the agency are posted online under section 3 of 
        the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 
        (31 U.S.C. 6101 note);</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(E) the uniform resource locator where the 
        budget justification materials are published on the website of 
        the agency; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    ``(F) a single data set that contains the 
        information described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) with 
        respect to the agency for all fiscal years for which budget 
        justifications of the agency are made available under section 3 
        of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 
        2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) in a structured data 
        format.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(2)(A) Each agency that submits budget justification 
materials shall make the materials available on the website of the 
agency, in accordance with the policies established by the Director of 
the Office of Management and Budget under subparagraph (B).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(B) Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 
of this subsection, the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall 
establish policies for agencies relating to making available materials 
under subparagraph (A), which shall include guidelines for making 
budget justification materials available in a format aligned with the 
requirements of section 3(b)(2)(C) of the Federal Funding 
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) and 
using a uniform resource locator that is in a consistent format across 
agencies and is descriptive, memorable, and pronounceable, such as the 
format of `agencyname.gov/budget'.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(C) If the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget maintains a public website that contains the budget of the 
United States Government submitted under subsection (a) and any related 
materials, such website shall also contain a link to the tabular list 
required under paragraph (1).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    ``(3) In this subsection, the term `budget justification 
materials' has the meaning given that term in section 3 of the Federal 
Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 
note).''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, shall be 
determined by reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary 
Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in 
the Congressional Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget 
Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 
vote on passage.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Congressional Budget Justification 
Transparency Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF BUDGET JUSTIFICATIONS AND APPROPRIATION 
              REQUESTS.

    (a) In General.--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. FULL DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.

    ``(a) In General.--Not less frequently than monthly when 
practicable, and in any event not less frequently than quarterly, the 
Secretary (in consultation with the Director and, with respect to 
information described in subsection (b)(2), the head of the applicable 
Federal agency) shall ensure that updated information with respect to 
the information described in subsection (b) is posted on the website 
established under section 2.
    ``(b) Information To Be Posted.--
            ``(1) Funds.--For any funds made available to or expended 
        by a Federal agency or component of a Federal agency, the 
        information to be posted shall include--
                    ``(A) for each appropriations account, including an 
                expired or unexpired appropriations account, the 
                amount--
                            ``(i) of budget authority appropriated;
                            ``(ii) that is obligated;
                            ``(iii) of unobligated balances; and
                            ``(iv) of any other budgetary resources;
                    ``(B) from which accounts and in what amount--
                            ``(i) appropriations are obligated for each 
                        program activity; and
                            ``(ii) outlays are made for each program 
                        activity;
                    ``(C) from which accounts and in what amount--
                            ``(i) appropriations are obligated for each 
                        object class; and
                            ``(ii) outlays are made for each object 
                        class; and
                    ``(D) for each program activity, the amount--
                            ``(i) obligated for each object class; and
                            ``(ii) of outlays made for each object 
                        class.
            ``(2) Budget justifications.--
                    ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
                            ``(i) the term `budget justification 
                        materials' means the annual budget 
                        justification materials of a Federal agency, or 
                        a component of a Federal agency, that are 
                        submitted, in conjunction with the budget of 
                        the United States Government submitted under 
                        section 1105(a) of title 31, United States 
                        Code; and
                            ``(ii) the term `open Government data 
                        asset' has the meaning given that term in 
                        section 3502 of title 44, United States Code.
                    ``(B) Information.--The information to be posted--
                            ``(i) shall include any budget 
                        justification materials--
                                    ``(I) for the second fiscal year 
                                beginning after the date of enactment 
                                of this paragraph, and each fiscal year 
                                thereafter; and
                                    ``(II) to the extent practicable, 
                                that were released for any fiscal year 
                                before the date of enactment of this 
                                paragraph; and
                            ``(ii) shall not include budget 
                        justification materials the disclosure of which 
                        is prohibited by law, that are classified, or 
                        that are exempt from disclosure under section 
                        552(b) of title 5, United States Code.
                    ``(C) Format.--Budget justification materials shall 
                be posted under subparagraph (B)--
                            ``(i) as an open Government data asset;
                            ``(ii) in a manner that enables users to 
                        download individual reports, download all 
                        reports in bulk, and download in bulk the 
                        results of a search, to the extent practicable; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) in a structured data format, to the 
                        extent practicable.
                    ``(D) Deadline.--The budget justification materials 
                required to be posted under subparagraph (B)(i) shall 
                be posted not later than 2 weeks after the date on 
                which the budget justification materials are first 
                submitted to Congress.
                    ``(E) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this 
                paragraph shall be construed to authorize a Federal 
                agency, or a component of a Federal agency, to destroy 
                any budget justification materials relating to a fiscal 
                year before the fiscal year described in subparagraph 
                (B)(i).''.
    (b) Information Regarding Agency Budget Justifications.--Section 
1105 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(i)(1) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 
make publicly available on a website, and continuously update, a 
tabular list for each fiscal year of each agency that submits budget 
justification materials, which shall include--
            ``(A) the name of the agency;
            ``(B) a unique identifier that identifies the agency;
            ``(C) to the extent practicable, the date on which the 
        budget justification materials of the agency are first 
        submitted to Congress;
            ``(D) the date on which the budget justification materials 
        of the agency are posted online under section 3 of the Federal 
        Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 
        6101 note);
            ``(E) the uniform resource locator where the budget 
        justification materials are published on the website of the 
        agency; and
            ``(F) a single data set that contains the information 
        described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) with respect to the 
        agency for all fiscal years for which budget justifications of 
        the agency are made available under section 3 of the Federal 
        Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 
        6101 note) in a structured data format.
    ``(2)(A) Each agency that submits budget justification materials 
shall make the materials available on the website of the agency, in 
accordance with the policies established by the Director of the Office 
of Management and Budget under subparagraph (B).
    ``(B) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
subsection, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in 
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall establish 
policies and data standards for agencies relating to making available 
materials under subparagraph (A), which shall include guidelines for 
making budget justification materials available in a format aligned 
with the requirements of section 3(b)(2)(C) of the Federal Funding 
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) and 
using a uniform resource locator that is in a consistent format across 
agencies and is descriptive, memorable, and pronounceable, such as the 
format of `agencyname.gov/budget'.
    ``(C) If the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
maintains a public website that contains the budget of the United 
States Government submitted under subsection (a) and any related 
materials, such website shall also contain a link to the tabular list 
required under paragraph (1).
    ``(3) In this subsection, the term `budget justification materials' 
has the meaning given that term in section 3(b)(2) of the Federal 
Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 
note).''.

SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

    The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
                                                        Calendar No. 66

117th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                 S. 272

                          [Report No. 117-23]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

  To amend the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 
 2006, to require the budget justifications and appropriation requests 
                of agencies be made publicly available.

_______________________________________________________________________

                              May 27, 2021

                       Reported with an amendment