[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 4, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H63-H65]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TAXPAYERS RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 71) to provide taxpayers with an annual report disclosing
the cost and performance of Government programs and areas of
duplication among them, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 71
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. INVENTORY OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--Section 1122(a) of title 31, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as paragraphs
(2) and (3), respectively;
(2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated,
the following:
``(1) Definition of program.--For purposes of this
subsection, the term `program' means an organized set of
activities by one or more agencies directed toward a common
purpose or goal.'';
(3) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated--
(A) by striking ``In general.--Not later than October 1,
2012, the Office of Management and Budget shall'' and
inserting ``Website and program inventory.--The Director of
the Office of Management and Budget shall'';
(B) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the
following:
``(C) include on the website--
``(i) a program inventory that shall identify each program
of the Federal Government for which there is more than
$1,000,000 in annual budget authority, which shall include--
``(I) any activity that is commonly referred to as a
program by a Federal agency in communications with Congress,
including any activity identified as a program in a budget
request;
``(II) any activity that is commonly referred to as a
program by a Federal agency in communications with the
public, including each program for which financial awards are
made on a competitive basis; and
``(III) any activity referenced in law as a program after
June 30, 2019; and
``(ii) for each program identified in the program
inventory, the information required under paragraph (3) or
paragraph (4), as applicable.'';
(4) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated--
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking
``Information.--Information for each program described under
paragraph (1)'' and inserting ``Information for larger
programs.--Information for each program identified in the
program inventory required under paragraph (2) for which
there is more than $10,000,000 in annual budget authority'';
(B) by striking subparagraph (C);
(C) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (D);
(D) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the
following:
``(A) an identification of the program activities that are
aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated as part of
identifying programs;
``(B) for each program activity described in subparagraph
(A), the amount of funding for the current fiscal year and
previous 2 fiscal years;
``(C) an estimate of the amount of funding for the
program;'';
(E) in subparagraph (D), as so redesignated, by striking
``and'' at the end; and
(F) by adding at the end the following:
``(E) an identification of the statutes that authorize the
program and any major regulations specific to the program;
``(F) for any program that provides grants or other
financial assistance to individuals or entities, for the most
recent fiscal year--
``(i) a description of the individuals served by the
program and beneficiaries who received financial assistance
under the program, including an estimate of the number of
individuals and beneficiaries, to the extent practicable;
``(ii) for each program for which the head of an agency
determines it is not practicable to provide an estimate of
the number of individuals and beneficiaries served by the
program--
``(I) an explanation of why data regarding the number of
such individuals and beneficiaries cannot be provided; and
``(II) a discussion of the measures that could be taken to
gather the data required to provide such an estimate; and
``(iii) a description of--
``(I) the Federal employees who administer the program,
including the number of full-time equivalents with a pro rata
estimate for full-time equivalents associated with multiple
programs; and
``(II) other individuals whose salary is paid in part or
full by the Federal Government through a grant, contract,
cooperative agreement, or another form of financial award or
assistance who administer or assist in any way in
administering the program, including the number of full-time
equivalents, to the extent practicable;
``(G) links to any evaluation, assessment, or program
performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector General, or
the Government Accountability Office (including program
performance reports required under section 1116) released
during the preceding 5 years; and
``(H) to the extent practicable, financial and other
information for each program activity required to be reported
under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act
of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).''; and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Information for smaller programs.--Information for
each program identified in the program inventory required
under paragraph (2) for which there is more than $1,000,000
and not more than $10,000,000 in annual budget authority
shall, at a minimum, include--
``(A) an identification of the program activities that are
aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated as part of
identifying programs;
``(B) for each program activity described in subparagraph
(A), the amount of funding for the current fiscal year and
previous 2 fiscal years;
``(C) an identification of the statutes that authorize the
program and any major regulations specific to the program;
``(D) for any program that provides grants or other
financial assistance to individuals or entities, a
description of the individuals served by the program and
beneficiaries who received financial assistance under the
program for the most recent fiscal year; and
``(E) links to any evaluation, assessment, or program
performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector General, or
the Government Accountability Office (including program
performance reports required under section 1116) released
during the preceding 5 years.
``(5) Archiving.--After the end of each fiscal year, the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall archive
and preserve the information included in the program
inventory required under paragraph (2) relating to that
fiscal year.''.
[[Page H64]]
(b) Expired Grant Funding.--Not later than February 1 of
each fiscal year, the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget shall publish on a public website the total amount
of undisbursed grant funding remaining in grant accounts for
which the period of availability to the grantee has expired.
SEC. 3. GUIDANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION.
(a) Guidance.--Not later than June 30, 2018, the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget--
(1) shall prescribe guidance to implement this Act, and the
amendments made by this Act;
(2) shall issue guidance to agencies to identify how the
program activities used for reporting under the Federal
Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31
U.S.C. 6101 note) are associated with programs identified in
the program inventory required under section 1122(a)(2)(C)(i)
of title 31, United States Code, as amended by subsection
(a);
(3) may issue guidance to agencies to ensure that the
programs identified in the program inventory required under
section 1122(a)(2)(C)(i) of title 31, United States Code, as
amended by subsection (a), are presented at a similar level
of detail across agencies and are not duplicative or
overlapping; and
(4) may, based on an analysis of the costs of
implementation, and after submitting to Congress a
notification of the action by the Director--
(A) exempt from the requirements under section 1122(a) of
title 31, United States Code, an agency that--
(i) is not listed in section 901(b) of title 31, United
States Code; and
(ii) for the fiscal year during which the exemption is
made, has budget authority (as defined in section 3 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622)) of not more
than $10,000,000; and
(B) extend the implementation deadline under subsection (b)
by not more than 1 year.
(b) Implementation.--This Act, and the amendments made by
this Act, shall be implemented not later than June 30, 2019.
SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.
No additional funds are authorized to carry out the
requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts
otherwise authorized.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Utah (Mr. Chaffetz) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.
General Leave
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Utah?
There was no objection.
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, this is a very good bill brought to us by
lead sponsor Mr. Walberg of Michigan who has done considerable work on
this not only at this point, but in Congresses of the past. We have
cosponsorship from a number of people on both sides of the aisle--five
members within the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman
from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).
Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his leadership on
this.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Taxpayers Right-To-Know
Act.
This bill is a bipartisan and bicameral effort to provide more
information about Federal programs and their activities online. The
American people deserve to know what their government does with their
hard-earned dollars. The Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act will make it
easier to evaluate Federal Government spending by requiring Federal
agencies to identify their programs, provide basic information like
what their programs do, how they perform, and how much they cost.
Agencies must do a better job of managing their programs and
identifying areas where taxpayer dollars are wasted.
The Government Accountability Office is tasked with reporting on
duplication and continues to find new areas of duplication across the
government. In 6 years, GAO has identified 250 areas and 637 corrective
actions in those areas to reduce fragmentation, overlap, or duplication
or address other opportunities for financial benefits. While only 41
percent of recommended corrective actions have been taken, GAO
estimates this progress will result in approximately $125 billion in
financial benefits and savings over 15 years.
While GAO's work has been invaluable, their ability to look
comprehensively at the Federal Government is inherently limited because
of the poor reporting by agencies about their activity. Quite simply,
Mr. Speaker, without better data, billions more will be lost.
Current law, specifically the Government Performance and Results
Modernization Act, requires agencies to report all their programs,
their funding, and their performance information to the Office of
Management and Budget. However, OMB's current inventory is incomplete
and provides inconsistent information. This makes it more difficult and
time consuming to identify areas of waste and inefficiency.
The Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act establishes an across-the-board
definition for ``program'' and requires the publication of detailed
information on each Federal program. This change will allow American
taxpayers and Federal watchdogs to better evaluate the effectiveness
and utility of government programs.
The Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act, Mr. Speaker, is an important and
necessary step forward for the government in providing programs that
are accountable, effective, and efficient.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Senator Lankford for his work on the Senate
companion bill in the last Congress, which will be reintroduced in
future weeks. I also thank Representative Cooper of Tennessee for his
continued bipartisan support and cosponsorship on this issue.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act builds upon two existing laws that
came through the Oversight and Government Reform Committee: the
Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 and the
DATA Act, which was signed into law in 2014.
{time} 1245
The Obama administration launched the performance.gov Web site to
implement the GPRA Modernization Act, and this bill would enhance the
information available through that Web site.
The bill would require the Office of Management and Budget to make
available on a central Web site an inventory of all Federal agency
programs that have a budget authority of more than $1 million.
I thank Representative Walberg for making changes to help address
those concerns in the version of the bill before us today. It is
important that we continue to work together to ensure the bill will
work as intended.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Costello).
Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, it is important the
Federal Government convey to taxpayers how it is spending their hard-
earned money. That is why I rise in support of H.R. 71, the Taxpayers
Right-To-Know Act.
For Federal programs authorized to spend over $1 million, this
bipartisan bill would make more information available and accessible
online so that taxpayers may see where their money is being spent and
how the program is performing. For each Federal program meeting these
requirements, the government would need to make public several key
pieces of information that are of interest to many of my constituents,
including funding levels for the program, Federal laws that authorize
the program, regulations related to the program, the results of
performance reviews that measure the program's effectiveness, and any
overlap of the program with another Federal program.
Simply put, this bill would help alleviate waste and prevent taxpayer
dollars from being spent on unnecessary, ineffective, or duplicative
programs.
I thank Congressman Tim Walberg and Congressman Jim Cooper for their
continued leadership on this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, this bill did pass the House without any objection in
the last session, and I would, once again, urge my colleagues to
support this commonsense bill.
[[Page H65]]
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. CHAFFETZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I am thankful for the good work by Mr. Walberg and Mr. Cooper, who
also serve on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. I thank
Mr. Clay and, certainly, Mr. Cummings.
In the 114th Congress, this bill was able to pass overwhelmingly in
the House by a vote of 413-0--with no opposition. It is truly
bipartisan and bicameral. It is a good bill. I thank Senator James
Lankford of Oklahoma for his work on the Senate side, and we do hope
that it will make it swiftly through the Senate.
The Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act provides the public and Congress with
increased transparency about Federal programs, including how much they
cost and any benefits that they provide. It sounds like a good and
worthy thing to do, and it passed the previous Congress. I urge my
colleagues to vote in favor of it here in the 115th Congress, and I am
glad it is one of the first things that we are doing.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Utah (Mr. Chaffetz) that the House suspend the rules and
pass the bill, H.R. 71.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________