[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 110 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4794-S4795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET JUSTIFICATION TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2021
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 66, S. 272.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk report the bill by title.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 272) 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.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill,
which had been reported from the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, with an amendment to strike all after the
enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following
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
[[Page S4795]]
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.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to; the bill, as
amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the
motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was
agreed to.
The bill (S. 272) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading,
was read the third time, and passed.
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