[House Report 113-270]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session 113-270
======================================================================
DIGITAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ACT
OF 2013
_______
November 18, 2013.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Issa, from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2061]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to whom
was referred the bill (H.R. 2061) to expand the Federal Funding
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to increase
accountability and transparency in Federal spending, and for
other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably
thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as
amended do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Committee Statement and Views.................................... 7
Section-by-Section............................................... 11
Explanation of Amendments........................................ 14
Committee Consideration.......................................... 14
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch..................... 14
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the
Committee...................................................... 14
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 14
Duplication of Federal Programs.................................. 14
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings.............................. 14
Federal Advisory Committee Act................................... 14
Unfunded Mandate Statement....................................... 15
Earmark Identification........................................... 15
Duplication of Federal Programs.................................. 15
Committee Estimate............................................... 15
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate... 15
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill as Reported............. 19
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Digital
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Purposes.
Sec. 3. Amendments to the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006.
Sec. 4. Pilot program to evaluate consolidated recipient reporting.
Sec. 5. Classified and protected information.
Sec. 6. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 amendments.
Sec. 7. Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 amendments.
Sec. 8. Executive agency accounting and other financial management
reports and plans.
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.
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
new paragraph (2):
``(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 new paragraphs:
``(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) in subparagraph (F)--
(I) in clause (i), by redesignating
subclauses (I) and (II) as items (aa)
and (bb), respectively;
(II) by redesignating clauses (i) and
(ii) as subclauses (I) and (II); and
(III) by striking the period at the
end of subclause (II) as so
redesignated and inserting ``; and'';
(iii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A)
through (G) as clauses (i) through (vii),
respectively, and adjusting the margin
accordingly;
(iv) 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
(v) 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 ``The Director of the Office
of Management and Budget'' and inserting ``The
Secretary of the Treasury''; and
(ii) by striking ``the Director'' and
inserting ``the Secretary'';
(C) in paragraph (4)--
(i) by striking ``the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget'' and inserting ``the
Secretary of the Treasury''; and
(ii) by striking ``the Director'' and
inserting ``the Secretary'', each place it
appears; 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 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 so that it can be included 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 Financial 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 Financial 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 new
subsections:
``(e) Department of the Treasury Requirements for Data Standards.--
``(1) 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--
``(A) 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;
``(B) 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
``(C) include data reporting standards that--
``(i) incorporate a widely accepted,
nonproprietary, searchable, platform-
independent computer-readable format;
``(ii) are consistent with and implement
applicable accounting principles;
``(iii) are 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.
``(2) Deadlines.--
``(A) 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 paragraph (1) to Federal
agencies not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of the Digital Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2013.
``(B) Website.--Not later than 1 year after the date
on which the guidance under clause (i) is issued, the
Secretary of the Treasury shall ensure that the website
required under this section makes data publicly
available in accordance with the data standards
established under paragraph (1).
``(C) Agencies.--Not later than 180 days after the
date on which the guidance under subparagraph (A) is
issued, each Federal agency shall collect, report, and
maintain data in accordance with the data standards
established under paragraph (1).
``(3) Consultation.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall
consult with public and private stakeholders in establishing
data standards under this subsection.
``(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 consolidate financial
reporting and 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 institutions of higher education;
``(3) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013,
provide guidance to the heads of Federal agencies regarding how
to simplify the reporting requirements for Federal award
recipients to consolidate financial reporting, reduce
duplicative reporting, and 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 consolidate, streamline, or reduce the cost of 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
data submitted under this Act by the agency, and shall submit
to Congress and make publicly available a report 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
publicly available a report on the 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 its
activities to identify waste, fraud, and abuse and increase
transparency of Federal funds to provide support for Inspectors
General.
``(3) Recovery operations center.--The Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board shall establish and
maintain a Recovery Operations Center as a government-wide
Internet-based data access system to carry out the functions
described in paragraph (4).
``(4) Functions of the recovery operations center.--The
functions referred to in paragraph (3) 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 agencies, 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 and Budget, 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.--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 Office of Management and
Budget, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of
the Senate, and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 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.
(g) Government-wide Implementation.--Not later than 90 days after the
date on which the Office of Management and Budget receives the report
required by subsection (f), the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget shall determine whether to authorize the Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board to extend the recipient reporting
requirements of the pilot program to all Federal funds. The Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board shall begin requiring Government-
wide recipient reporting at the start of the fiscal year that commences
after the fiscal year during which such authorization is granted, and
under such terms and conditions that the Board shall determine, in
consultation with the Director.
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. AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009 AMENDMENTS.
Division A of Public Law 111-5 is amended--
(1) in section 1501 of title XV, 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 of title XV, by adding at the end the
following:
``(i) Expiration.--The requirements in this section shall expire on
September 30, 2013.'';
(3) in section 1523 of title XV, by adding at the end the
following:
``(d) Expiration.--The requirements in this section shall expire on
September 30, 2013.'';
(4) in section 1526 of title XV, by adding at the end the
following:
``(e) Expiration.--The requirements in this section shall expire on
September 30, 2013.''; and
(5) in section 1530 of title XV, by striking ``September 30,
2013.'' and inserting ``September 30, 2017.''.
SEC. 7. DISASTER RELIEF APPROPRIATIONS ACT OF 2013 AMENDMENTS.
Division A of Public Law 113-2 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. 8. 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 of this title'' after
``appropriate committees of the 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 of this title 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.''.
Committee Statement and Views
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H.R. 2061, the Digital Accountability and Transparency
Act--or DATA Act--opens Federal spending to closer scrutiny by
the public, watchdog groups, media, executive-branch
management, and Congress.
The DATA Act requires Federal agencies to publicly report
all of their obligations and expenditures--encompassing both
external spending, such as grants, loans, and contracts, and
internal spending on salaries, supplies, and facilities. The
DATA Act provides for federal spending information to be
disclosed publicly on a single online platform. To ensure that
these two categories of information may be checked against one
another and easily searched and analyzed, the DATA Act imposes
common data identifiers and electronic reporting standards on
agencies.
The DATA Act builds on the legislative achievements of
President Obama and Sens. Tom Coburn, Tom Carper, and John
McCain, who sponsored and cosponsored the Federal Funding
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA).\1\ FFATA
required the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish
a website, USASpending.gov, which publishes selected
information, gleaned from government-wide databases, for each
Federal grant, loan, and contract. The DATA Act requires the
same information to be published online, but greatly expands
the scope of spending transparency by adding agencies' internal
spending data to FFATA's mandate.
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\1\P.L. 109-292.
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The DATA Act also incorporates lessons learned from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which
required the recipients of Federal stimulus funds to report on
the receipt and use of those funds to a single central
database. The contents of this database are made public on the
website Recovery.gov. The Recovery Accountability and
Transparency Board (``Recovery Board'') maintains the database
and has established the Recovery Operations Center (ROC), an
analytical tool that combines information reported by stimulus
recipients with other databases to detect irregularities and
fraud. As of December 31, 2012, the Recovery Board's activities
had resulted in more than 2,000 investigations, with 846
convictions, pleas, or judgments relating to questionable
awards.\2\ The DATA Act extends the Recovery Board and the ROC
as a tool for Inspectors General to identify waste, fraud,
abuse, and improper payments.
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\2\Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board 2012 Annual
Report, available at http://www.recovery.gov/About/board/Documents/
2012%20Annual%20Report.pdf (Accessed June 28, 2013).
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BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Over the past four years, the Committee has examined the
need to improve the transparency of Federal information,
particularly Federal spending data. The Committee's efforts
have included seven hearings,\3\ the formation of the
Congressional Transparency Caucus,\4\ and extensive outreach
and research by Republican and Democratic Committee staff. H.R.
2061 applies the lessons learned from these activities to open
Federal spending to closer scrutiny by the public, watchdog
groups, media, executive-branch management, and Congress.
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\3\``Preventing Stimulus Waste and Fraud: Who are the Watchdogs?''
March 19, 2009; ``Tracking the Money: Preventing Waste, Fraud and Abuse
of Recovery Act Funding,'' July 8, 2009; ``Tracking the Money: How
Recovery Act Recipients Account for their Use of Stimulus Dollars,''
Nov. 19, 2009; ``The Freedom of Information Act: Crowd-Sourcing
Government Oversight,'' March 17, 2011; ``Achieving Transparency and
Accountability in Federal Spending,'' June 14, 2011; ``Transparency
Through Technology: Evaluating Federal Open-Government Initiatives,''
March 11, 2011 (Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy,
Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform); ``Improving
Oversight and Accountability in Federal Grant Programs,'' June 23, 2011
(Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental
Relations and Procurement Reform).
\4\See Press Release, ``Issa, Quigley Announce Bipartisan
Transparency Caucus,'' March 24, 2010.
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American taxpayers have the right to expect free access to
accurate, comprehensive, and useful information describing how
the Federal government uses their money. Transparency can
provide a check on waste, fraud, and abuse in government\5\--
but only if Federal data is reliably published in formats that
make it easy to analyze. Decision-makers within the
government--including managers in the executive branch and
members serving on the Congressional appropriations and
oversight committees--also need this information to make
informed choices.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\See, e.g., Testimony of Earl Devaney before the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform, June 14, 2011, available at http://
oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Testimony/Devaney_Testimony_2.pdf,
at 4 (``Devaney Testimony'') (``Transparency can cause embarrassment,
which, in turn, causes self-correcting behavior'').
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Despite groundbreaking efforts to make Federal spending
transparent to Americans, the information currently made
available by the government often lacks accuracy,
comprehensiveness, and usefulness. For example, the Sunlight
Foundation reported that $1.55 trillion of spending reported on
USASpending.gov in FY 2011 was inaccurate, and 64.2 percent of
the data reported was inconsistent.\6\ Moreover,
USASpending.gov covers Federal grants, contracts, or loans, but
not internal agency spending, which means that it cannot
provide taxpayers or decision-makers with a complete picture of
the cost of a given program, office, or department.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\See Sunlight Foundation, Clearspending: Making Sense of the
Federal Checkbook, available at http://sunlightfoundation.com/
clearspending// (accessed June 25, 2013). The Sunlight Foundation study
covered only grant programs, because grant information on
USASpending.gov may be compared to corresponding information in the
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, but there is no independent
compilation of contract information to which contract data on
USASpending.gov may be compared.
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Recovery.gov has demonstrated better accuracy\7\ and
relevance\8\ than USASpending.gov. Its recipient-reported data
has proved more useful for government-wide oversight than
USASpending.gov's data. First, Recovery.gov's recipient-
supplied reports are received quarterly, permitting activity to
be tracked across time; by contrast, USASpending.gov only
publishes data once for each contract, grant, or loan
transaction. Second, the recipients of stimulus grants,
contracts, and loans have a strong incentive to report
accurately under ARRA, because they run the risk of losing
their stimulus funding if they do not. Meanwhile, Federal
agencies have a weaker incentive to provide accurate data to
the government-wide databases that feed USASpending.gov because
FFATA's mandate applies to OMB but not to the agencies, and
imposes no penalties for noncompliance. However, Recovery.gov's
scope is even more limited than that of USASpending.gov; it
covers only the grants, loans, and contracts that are funded by
the stimulus.
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\7\By the end of the first quarter of calendar 2011, only 17
recipients had failed to file recipient reports under ARRA twice, and
the number of three-time non-reporters was seven. Devaney Testimony at
5.
\8\In contrast with the extensive use of the Recovery Operations
Center by the Recovery Board and inspectors general throughout the
executive branch to detect irregularities and fraud, Federal
authorities do not use USASpending.gov for any oversight-related
purpose.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Significantly, the usefulness of both USASpending.gov and
Recovery.gov is hampered by the Federal government's long-term
failure to adopt common data elements and reporting standards
for electronic financial information. For example, there is no
system of identifier codes for all Federal awards; instead,
every agency separately tracks grants, contracts, and loans
using its own distinct system.\9\ Similarly, there is no system
of identifier codes for all recipients of Federal grants,
contracts, and loans; no master list of all Federal programs;
and, in fact, no agreed system of agency codes. Without
government-wide identifiers for awards, recipients, programs,
agencies, and other data elements, sophisticated electronic
searches and comparisons will be impossible, even under a
comprehensive spending transparency mandate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\See Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board white paper,
``Solutions for Accountability and Transparency: Uniform Governmentwide
Award ID Number.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE DATA ACT'S SOLUTION
The DATA Act tasks the Department of the Treasury with
establishing government-wide data standards for federal
spending. The Department of the Treasury will collect Federal
spending information and publish that information in formats
that make it easy to search, sort, and download. Treasury is
further directed to designate common electronic data elements
and reporting standards for the spending information it
collects.
The DATA Act also shifts from OMB to Treasury the
responsibility for administering the FFATA-required website
maintaining federal spending data. Treasury can comply with
this provision by assuming control over the administration of
the USASpending.gov site. The data posted on USASpending.gov
will contain information from more sources than it currently
does, increasing the availability and accuracy of data. All
data on USASpending.gov will be available in a machine-
readable, searchable format and down loadable in bulk.
Reporting requirements will be strengthened by the DATA
Act. For all federal funds, agencies will report the amount of
budget authority available, the amount obligated, the amount of
outlays, and the amount of expired or unobligated balances.
The DATA Act also seeks to reduce the burden of reporting.
The Office of Management and Budget is tasked with reviewing
current financial reporting requirements and making
recommendations instructing agencies on how to simplify
reporting to reduce duplication and compliance costs.
Under the DATA Act, the Recovery Board will remain as a
resource for Inspectors General to identify waste, fraud,
abuse, and improper payments. It will continue to run the ROC,
which shall incorporate information reported under the DATA Act
as well as other available sources.
The Recovery Board shall also conduct a three year pilot
program to evaluate consolidated financial reporting and its
ability to increase financial transparency and reduce
compliance costs and burdens. The pilot program will review $1
billion in Federal funds in the form of grants, contracts, and
subawards. Participants will be selected by the Recovery Board
from recipients of Federal funds, and are to include a diverse
group that collectively receives funds under multiple programs
across multiple agencies.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The DATA Act builds on the Federal Funding Accountability
and Transparency Act of 2006 (``FFATA'').\10\ FFATA required
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish a
website, USASpending.gov, which publishes selected information,
gleaned from government-wide databases, for each Federal grant,
loan, and contract. The DATA Act requires the same information
to be published online, but greatly expands the scope of
spending transparency by adding agencies' internal spending
data to FFATA's mandate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\Pub. L. 109-292.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the 111th Congress, the Committee twice reported
legislation to impose consistent data technologies on Federal
spending information. On July 30, 2009, the Committee reported,
by voice vote, H.R. 2392, the Government Information
Transparency Act, which had been introduced by then-Ranking
Member Darrell Issa and cosponsored by then-Chairman Edolphus
Towns. The Government Information Transparency Act would have
required OMB to adopt consistent electronic data standards for
Federal financial information and would have required agencies
to use those standards. The House never acted on the Government
Information Transparency Act.
On December 10, 2009, the Committee reported, by voice
vote, S. 303, the reauthorization of the Federal Financial
Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999, with a
bipartisan manager's amendment which incorporated the data-
standards language of the previous Government Information
Transparency Act. The House passed S. 303 via suspension on
December 14, 2009. However, the Senate never acted, before the
end of the 111th Congress, to reconcile differences between its
original version of the bill and the House-passed version.
In the 112th Congress, Chairman Issa and Ranking Member
Cummings introduced H.R. 2140, the DATA Act, on June 13, 2011.
Senator Warner introduced a companion bill, S. 1222, on June
16, 2011. The DATA Act was discussed during a hearing of the
full Committee on June 14, 2011, and amended during a Committee
business meeting on June 22, 2011. After amending the
legislation, the Committee favorably reported it by voice vote.
On April 25, 2012, on a motion to suspend the rules and pass
the bill, the DATA Act was agreed to by voice vote and referred
to the Senate. The Senate did not take action to pass H.R.
2140, or S. 1222. Senator Warner introduced a new version of
the DATA Act, S. 3600, on September 20, 2012. At the end of the
112th Congress, the Senate had not taken action to pass H.R.
2140 or either of the Senate DATA Act bills.
In the 113th Congress, Chairman Issa and Ranking Member
Cummings reintroduced the DATA Act, H.R. 2061, on May 21, 2013.
On the same day, Senator Warner and Senator Portman introduced
a companion bill in the Senate, S. 994. H.R. 2061 was discussed
during a business meeting of the full Committee on May 22,
2013. After amending the DATA Act, the Committee favorably
reported it to the House of Representatives by voice vote. On
November 6, 2013, S. 994 was ordered reported out of the Senate
Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, with an
amendment.
Section-by-Section
Section 1. Short title; table of contents
The short title of the bill is the ``Digital Accountability
and Transparency Act of 2013.'' This section also contains the
Table of Contents.
Section 2. Purposes
This section explains the purposes of the Act:
(1) to expand the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA) by disclosing direct
Federal agency expenditures;
(2) to provide consistent, reliable, searchable
spending data and make it available to the public;
(3) to analyze Federal spending data to prevent
waste, fraud, abuse, and improper payments;
(4) to simplify and streamline reporting requirements
for entities receiving Federal funds; and
(5) to improve the quality of data submitted to
USASpending.gov.
Section 3. Amendments to the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006
This section amends FFATA in the following ways:
(1) The website established under FFATA, USASpending.gov,
will no longer be maintained by the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB). Instead, Treasury will run USASpending.gov and
maintain the data.
(2) USASpending.gov will incorporate data from more
sources, including the Payment Automation Manager and Financial
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 agencies
collected and identified by OMB. All information shall be
available in a machine-readable, searchable format and be bulk
downloadable.
(3) Reporting will be expanded from all federal ``awards''
to all federal funds. All agencies must now report the
following for all federal funds:
(i) the amount of budget authority available;
(ii) the amount obligated;
(iii) the amount of outlays; and
(iv) the amount of expired and unexpired unobligated
balances.
Additionally, entities receiving funds from the government
shall be assigned unique identifiers. Reporting for all federal
funds shall be updated not less than once each quarter.
(4) The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish data
standards for all federal funds, and shall apply the standards
to all data collection, dissemination, and publication. The
standards shall include common data elements, such as codes,
unique award identifiers, and fields. Treasury shall issue
guidance on data standards no later than 1 year after the date
of enactment.
(5) OMB shall review financial reporting requirements and
make recommendations to simply the requirements. No later than
1 year after enactment, OMB shall instruct agencies on how to
simplify reporting requirements to reduce duplicative reporting
and compliance costs. Not later than 18 months after enactment,
OMB shall issue a report to Congress identifying any
legislative action required to consolidate, streamline, or
reduce the cost of reporting requirements.
(6) The Inspector General of each agency shall review a
sampling of data submitted under this Act by each agency every
two years. It shall report to Congress on the quality,
accuracy, and timeliness of data submitted, as well as
compliance with this Act. The Comptroller General shall also
report on the quality of data and compliance with this Act.
(7) The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board
shall serve as a resource for Inspectors General to use to
identify fraud, waste, abuse, and improper payments. The Board
shall develop resources and mechanisms to detect and remediate
waste, fraud, and abuse. It shall maintain a website to inform
the public of its activities. It shall also run the Recovery
Operations Center (ROC). The ROC shall act as a data access
system that shall incorporate data reported under this Act as
well as other data from Federal, State, local, and foreign
governments and commercially and publicly available
information.
(8) The data reported under this Act shall be provided to
the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to be
included in its Recovery Operations Center and used for
detecting fraud, waste, abuse, and improper payments.
Section 4. Pilot program to evaluate consolidated recipient reporting
The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board shall
conduct a 3-year pilot program to evaluate consolidated
reporting and its ability to increase financial transparency
and reduce the compliance burden on federal fund awardees. The
pilot will include recipients that collectively receive more
than $1 billion in federal funds, received funds from multiple
agencies, and in the form of contracts, grants, and subawards.
At the end of the pilot, the Board shall submit its findings
and recommendations to Congress.
Section 5. Classified and protected information
This amends FFATA to specify that nothing in this Act shall
require the disclosure of information protected under the
Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act of 1974, or section
6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
Section 6. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 amendments
This section amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (ARRA) by setting expiration dates for the
requirements under the Act as September 30, 2013. The Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board shall be extended from
September 30, 2013, to September 30, 2017.
Section 7. Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 amendments
This section amends the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act
of 2013 by striking the requirement that the Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board may review funds
``appropriated for the impact of Hurricane Sandy.''
Section 8. Executive agency accounting and other financial management
reports and plans
This section amends Section 3512(a) of title 31, U.S.C. by
requiring information reported under this section to be made
available on a public website. It also requires the Director of
OMB to make available on the website a report on specific goals
related to implementation of this Act and the status of
achieving those goals.
Explanation of Amendments
Chairman Issa offered a manager's amendment to give the
Office of Management and Budget an option of extending all or
part of the pilot program for consolidated financial reporting
at the end of the three year pilot. The amendment was agreed
to.
Committee Consideration
On May 22, 2013, the Committee met in open session and
ordered reported favorably the bill, H.R. 2061, as amended, by
voice vote, a quorum being present.
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch
Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a
description of the application of this bill to the legislative
branch where the bill relates to the terms and conditions of
employment or access to public services and accommodations.
This bill requires Federal agencies to publicly report all of
their obligations and expenditures--encompassing both external
spending, such as grants, loans, and contracts, and internal
spending on salaries, supplies, and facilities. As such this
bill does not relate to employment or access to public services
and accommodations.
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the Committee
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of
this report.
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives
In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance
goals and objectives are reflected in the descriptive portions
of this report.
Duplication of Federal Programs
No provision of H.R. 2061 establishes or reauthorizes a
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of
another Federal program, a program that was included in any
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance.
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings
The Committee estimates that enacting H.R. 2061 does not
direct the completion of any specific rule makings within the
meaning of 5 U.S.C. 551.
Federal Advisory Committee Act
The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish
or authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within
the definition of 5 U.S.C. App., Section 5(b).
Unfunded Mandate Statement
Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act, P.L. 104-4) requires a statement as to
whether the provisions of the reported include unfunded
mandates. In compliance with this requirement the Committee has
received a letter from the Congressional Budget Office included
herein.
Earmark Identification
H.R. 2061 does not include any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9 of rule XXI.
Duplication of Federal Programs
H.R. 2061 does not establish or reauthorize a Program of
the Federal Government known to be duplicative of another
Federal program.
Committee Estimate
Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the
Committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out
H.R. 2061. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides
that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has
included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the
bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act.
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received
the following cost estimate for H.R. 2061 from the Director of
Congressional Budget Office:
November 13, 2013.
Hon. Darrell Issa,
Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 2061, the Digital
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Douglas W. Elmendorf.
Enclosure.
H.R. 2061--Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013
Summary: H.R. 2061 aims to make information on federal
expenditures more easily available, accessible, and
transparent. The bill would require the U.S. Department of the
Treasury to establish common standards for financial data
provided by all government agencies and to expand the amount of
data that agencies must provide to the government website,
USASpending. H.R. 2061 also would authorize the Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board to continue to operate
through 2017 and would direct the board to conduct a three-year
pilot program to make it easier for federal contractors and
grant recipients to comply with reporting requirements.
Finally, the legislation would require the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB), the Government Accountability Office (GAO),
and agency Inspectors General (IGs) to submit additional
reports to the Congress.
CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $395
million over the 2014-2018 period, assuming appropriation of
the necessary amounts, mostly for collecting and reporting
financial information across government agencies. The
legislation also could affect direct spending by agencies not
funded through annual appropriations; therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures apply. CBO estimates, however, that any net increase
in spending by those agencies would not be significant.
Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.
H.R. 2061 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA);
any costs to state, local, or tribal governments would result
from complying with conditions for receiving federal
assistance.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of H.R. 2061 is shown in the following table.
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 800
(general government) and all other budget functions that
include agency spending.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
-------------------------------------------------------
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2014-2018
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board:
Estimated Authorization Level....................... 17 26 29 30 0 102
Estimated Outlays................................... 15 26 29 30 2 102
Collection and Reporting of Federal Data:
Estimated Authorization Level....................... 35 50 75 75 50 285
Estimated Outlays................................... 32 53 75 75 50 285
Other Reporting:
Estimated Authorization Level....................... 1 2 1 3 1 8
Estimated Outlays................................... 1 2 1 3 1 8
Total Changes:
Estimated Authorization Level................... 53 78 105 108 51 395
Estimated Outlays............................... 48 81 105 108 53 395
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that the
legislation will be enacted near the end of 2013, that the
necessary amounts will be appropriated near the start of each
fiscal year, and that spending will follow historical patterns
for similar activities.
Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board
H.R. 2061 would authorize the appropriation of such sums as
are necessary to continue the operations of the recovery board
through fiscal year 2017. The recovery board was created by the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to
oversee ARRA spending and to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in
federal programs. (The board's authority to oversee ARRA
spending expired on September 30, 2013, but the Disaster Relief
Appropriations Act of 2013 authorized the board to oversee
spending related to Hurricane Sandy through the end of fiscal
year 2015.) Under the bill, the board would continue to review
and report on other federal spending. Based on the recovery
board's funding for fiscal year 2013 ($27 million, after
sequestration) and on information from the board, and after
adjusting for spending related to Hurricane Sandy and
anticipated inflation, CBO estimates that continuing the
operations of the recovery board through 2017 would cost $102
million over the 2014-2018 period, assuming appropriation of
the necessary funds.
Collection and reporting of financial data
The federal government uses many databases to monitor and
track agency spending. For example, three major databases--the
U.S. Census Bureau's Federal Assistance Award Data System, the
General Services Administration's Federal Procurement Data
System, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services'
website, Grants--contain information about federal grants and
contracts. That information on federal spending is also
available through OMB's website, USASpending, which displays
award amounts for all federal contracts, grants, and loans. The
recovery board's website, Recovery, also provides information
on federal spending, but it includes detailed information only
on activities initiated under ARRA.
H.R. 2061 would transfer responsibility for operating and
maintaining USASpending to the Treasury Department and expand
that website to include all federal spending. The department
also would be required to establish standards for developing
and reporting data on all federal spending, including the use
of unique identifiers for entities receiving federal funds
across all government computer systems, so as to allow data
from multiple systems to be compared. In addition, the recovery
board would be required to conduct a three-year pilot program
aimed at improving the transparency of financial reports by
consolidating and automating certain financial information.
After three years, OMB could expand the pilot program to cover
all federal agencies.
Information from OMB, the recovery board, agency IG
offices, and other federal agencies indicates that the
government currently collects much of the information that
would be needed to create a comprehensive database on federal
spending as required under H.R. 2061. In addition, the Treasury
Department and OMB have taken steps under current law to
standardize some reporting requirements and to improve the
quality of the financial information provided by all government
sources, including USASpending.
However, not all of that financial information is
standardized, accurate, or readily available as would be
required under the bill. For example, a recent GAO report
indicates that agencies expend significant time, effort, and
resources to develop financial information that they should be
able to provide on a daily or recurring basis.\11\ GAO also
notes that federal agencies use inconsistent definitions in
developing, tracking, and reporting on federal spending, so
creating a consolidated system probably would be difficult,
time consuming, and expensive. Finally, because many of the
government's computer systems for managing financial
information were designed to serve multiple purposes, changing
them while preserving their multiple purposes would be
expensive.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\Government Accountability Office, Federal Data Transparency;
Opportunities Remain to Incorporate Lessons Learned as Availability of
Spending Data Increase, GAO-13-758 (September 12, 2013) www.gao.gov/
products/GAO-13-758.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBO expects that improving the government's current efforts
to collect and report on financial data would involve the
coordinated efforts of 26 federal agencies. We estimate that
those new efforts would include modifying numerous computer
systems and also further standardizing financial data, training
personnel, conducting the proposed pilot program, and improving
communications between agencies and recipients of federal
funds. Based on information from agencies, OMB, and the
recovery board, as well as GAO reports on the performance and
history of modifying major federal IT systems and conducting
audits of federal agencies, CBO estimates that implementing
those provisions would cost $2 million to $3 million annually
per agency, totaling $285 million over the 2014-2018 period,
assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.
Other reports
H.R. 2061 would require OMB, agencies, and GAO to prepare a
number of reports. OMB would be required to review financial
reporting practices and to produce a report recommending
legislative actions to improve those practices governmentwide.
Inspectors General offices and GAO would have to prepare
reports every two years about the accuracy of financial
reporting. Based on the costs of similar reports, CBO estimates
that implementing those provisions would cost $8 million over
the 2014-2018 period, assuming the availability of appropriated
funds.
Pay-As-You-Go considerations: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go
Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement
procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or
revenues. H.R. 2061 could affect direct spending by agencies
not funded through annual appropriations. CBO estimates,
however, that any net increase in spending by those agencies
would not be significant. Enacting the bill would not affect
revenues.
Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 2061
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as
defined in UMRA. The bill would change the way state, local,
and tribal governments report on their use of federal funds.
Some of those changes could increase and others could decrease
the costs that such governments would incur to comply with
conditions of federal assistance. However, conditions of
assistance (and their costs) are not intergovernmental mandates
as defined in UMRA.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Spending: Matthew Pickford;
Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Elizabeth Cove
Delisle; Impact on the Private Sector: Paige Piper/Bach.
Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
FEDERAL FUNDING ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2006
* * * * * * *
SEC. 2. [FULL DISCLOSURE OF ENTITIES RECEIVING FEDERAL FUNDING]
DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL FUNDING.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) * * *
(2) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' has
the meaning given the term ``Executive agency'' under
section 105 of title 5, United States Code.
[(2)] (3) Federal award.--The term ``Federal
award''--
(A) * * *
* * * * * * *
(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.
[(3)] (7) Searchable website.--The term ``searchable
website'' means a website that allows the public to--
(A) * * *
(B) ascertain through a single search the
total amount of Federal funding awarded to an
entity by a Federal award described in
[paragraph (2)(A)(i)] paragraph (3)(A)(i), by
fiscal year;
(C) ascertain through a single search the
total amount of Federal funding awarded to an
entity by a Federal award described in
[paragraph (2)(A)(ii)] paragraph (3)(A)(ii), by
fiscal year; and
* * * * * * *
(b) In General.--
(1) Website.--Not later than January 1, 2008, [the
Office of Management and Budget] the Secretary of the
Treasury shall, in accordance with this section,
section 204 of the E-Government Act of 2002 (Public Law
107-347; 44 U.S.C. 3501 note), and the Office of
Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403 et seq.),
ensure the existence and operation of a single
searchable website, accessible by the public at no cost
to access, that includes [for each Federal award--] 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--
[(A)] (i) the name of the entity
receiving the award;
[(B)] (ii) the amount of the award;
[(C)] (iii) information on the award,
which shall be assigned a unique
identifier, including transaction type,
funding agency, the North American
Industry Classification System code or
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
number (where applicable), program
source, and an award title descriptive
of the purpose of each funding action;
[(D)] (iv) the location of the entity
receiving the award and the primary
location of performance under the
award, including the city, State,
congressional district, and country;
[(E)] (v) a unique identifier of the
entity receiving the award and of the
parent entity of the recipient, should
the entity be owned by another entity;
[(F)] (vi) the names and total
compensation of the five most highly
compensated officers of the entity if--
[(i)] (I) the entity in the
preceding fiscal year
received--
[(I)] (aa) 80 percent
or more of its annual
gross revenues in
Federal awards; and
[(II)] (bb)
$25,000,000 or more in
annual gross revenues
from Federal awards;
and
[(ii)] (II) the public does
not have access to information
about the compensation of the
senior executives of the entity
through periodic reports filed
under section 13(a) or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m(a), 78o(d))
or section 6104 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986[.]; and
[(G)] (vii) any other relevant
information specified by [the Office of
Management and Budget] the Secretary of
the Treasury.
* * * * * * *
(3) Designation of agencies.--[The Director of the
Office of Management and Budget] The Secretary of the
Treasury is authorized to designate one or more Federal
agencies to participate in the development,
establishment, operation, and support of the single
website. In the initial designation, or in subsequent
instructions and guidance, [the Director] the Secretary
may specify the scope of the responsibilities of each
such agency.
(4) Agency responsibilities.--Federal agencies shall
comply with the instructions and guidance issued by
[the Director of the Office of Management and Budget]
the Secretary of the Treasury under paragraph (3), and
shall provide appropriate assistance to [the Director]
the Secretary upon request, so as to assist [the
Director] the Secretary in ensuring the existence and
operation of the single website.
(5) Application of data standards.--The Secretary of
the Treasury shall apply the data standards established
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 so
that it can be included in the Recovery Operations
Center described in subsection (h).
(c) Website.--The website established under this section--
(1) may use as the source of its data the Federal
Procurement Data System, Federal Assistance Award Data
System, [and Grants.gov] Grants.gov, the Payment
Automation Manager and Financial 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, if all of these data sources are
searchable through the website and can be accessed in a
search on the website required by this Act, provided
that the user may--
(A) * * *
(B) specify such search shall be confined to
include grants, subgrants, loans, awards,
cooperative agreements, and other forms of
financial assistance; and
(C) specify such search shall be confined to
Federal funds;
(2) shall not be considered in compliance if it
hyperlinks to the Federal Procurement Data System
website, Federal Assistance Award Data System website,
Grants.gov website, the Payment Automation Manager and
Financial 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, or
other existing websites, so that the information
elements required by subsection (b)(1) cannot be
searched electronically by field in a single search;
* * * * * * *
(4) [shall be updated not later] shall be updated--
(A) not later than 30 days after the award of
any Federal award requiring a posting; and
(B) not less than once each quarter with
information relating to Federal funds;
(5) shall provide for separate searches for Federal
funds and Federal awards described in subsection (a) to
distinguish between the Federal awards described in
[subsection (a)(2)(A)(i) and those described in
subsection (a)(2)(A)(ii).] subsection (a)(3)(A)(i) and
those described in subsection (a)(3)(A)(ii);
(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.
* * * * * * *
(e) Department of the Treasury Requirements for Data
Standards.--
(1) 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--
(A) 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;
(B) 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
(C) include data reporting standards that--
(i) incorporate a widely accepted,
nonproprietary, searchable, platform-
independent computer-readable format;
(ii) are consistent with and
implement applicable accounting
principles;
(iii) are 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.
(2) Deadlines.--
(A) 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
paragraph (1) to Federal agencies not later
than 1 year after the date of enactment of the
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of
2013.
(B) Website.--Not later than 1 year after the
date on which the guidance under clause (i) is
issued, the Secretary of the Treasury shall
ensure that the website required under this
section makes data publicly available in
accordance with the data standards established
under paragraph (1).
(C) Agencies.--Not later than 180 days after
the date on which the guidance under
subparagraph (A) is issued, each Federal agency
shall collect, report, and maintain data in
accordance with the data standards established
under paragraph (1).
(3) Consultation.--The Secretary of the Treasury
shall consult with public and private stakeholders in
establishing data standards under this subsection.
(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
consolidate financial reporting and 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 institutions of higher
education;
(3) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of
2013, provide guidance to the heads of Federal agencies
regarding how to simplify the reporting requirements
for Federal award recipients to consolidate financial
reporting, reduce duplicative reporting, and 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
consolidate, streamline, or reduce the cost of
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 data
submitted under this Act by the agency, and shall
submit to Congress and make publicly available a report
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
publicly available a report on the
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 its activities to identify waste, fraud,
and abuse and increase transparency of Federal funds to
provide support for Inspectors General.
(3) Recovery operations center.--The Recovery
Accountability and Transparency Board shall establish
and maintain a Recovery Operations Center as a
government-wide Internet-based data access system to
carry out the functions described in paragraph (4).
(4) Functions of the recovery operations center.--The
functions referred to in paragraph (3) 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 agencies, in accordance
with applicable law, to detect and
remediate waste, fraud, and abuse.
[(e)] (i) Exception.--Any entity that demonstrates to the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget that the gross
income, from all sources, for such entity did not exceed
$300,000 in the previous tax year of such entity shall be
exempt from the requirement to report subawards under
subsection (d), until the Director determines that the
imposition of such reporting requirements will not cause an
undue burden on such entities.
[(f)] (j) Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall prohibit
the Office of Management and Budget from including through the
website established under this section access to data that is
publicly available in any other Federal database.
[(g)] (k) Report.--
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
[SEC. 3. CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.
[Nothing in this Act shall require the disclosure of
classified information.]
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.
* * * * * * *
----------
AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009
(Division A of Public Law 111-5)
* * * * * * *
TITLE XV--ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY
SEC. 1501. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) * * *
* * * * * * *
[(4) Covered funds.--The term ``covered funds'' means
any funds that are expended or obligated from
appropriations made under this Act.]
(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.
* * * * * * *
Subtitle A--Transparency and Oversight Requirements
* * * * * * *
SEC. 1512. REPORTS ON USE OF FUNDS.
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(i) Expiration.--The requirements in this section shall
expire on September 30, 2013.
* * * * * * *
Subtitle B--Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board
* * * * * * *
SEC. 1523. FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD.
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(d) Expiration.--The requirements in this section shall
expire on September 30, 2013.
* * * * * * *
SEC. 1526. BOARD WEBSITE.
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(e) Expiration.--The requirements in this section shall
expire on September 30, 2013.
* * * * * * *
SEC. 1530. TERMINATION OF THE BOARD.
The Board shall terminate on [September 30, 2013.] September
30, 2017.
* * * * * * *
----------
SECTION 904 OF THE DISASTER RELIEF APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2013
(Division A of Pubic Law 113-2)
Sec. 904. (a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(d) Through September 30, 2015, the Recovery Accountability
and Transparency Board shall develop and use information
technology resources and oversight mechanisms to detect and
remediate waste, fraud, and abuse in the obligation and
expenditure of funds appropriated in this or any other Act for
any fiscal year of such period [for purposes related to the
impact of Hurricane Sandy]: Provided, That the Board shall
coordinate its oversight efforts with the Director of OMB, the
head of each Federal agency receiving appropriations [related
to the impact of Hurricane Sandy], and the respective Inspector
General of each such agency: Provided further, That the Board
shall submit quarterly reports to the Committees on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate
on its activities [related to funds appropriated for the impact
of Hurricane Sandy].
----------
TITLE 31, UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
SUBTITLE III--FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 35--ACCOUNTING AND COLLECTION
* * * * * * *
SUBCHAPTER II--ACCOUNTING REQUIREMENTS, SYSTEMS, AND INFORMATION
* * * * * * *
Sec. 3512. Executive agency accounting and other financial management
reports and plans
(a)(1) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget
shall prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of the
Congress and make available on the website described under
section 1122 of this title a financial management status report
and a governmentwide 5-year financial management plan.
* * * * * * *
(3)(A) * * *
(B) Each governmentwide 5-year financial management plan
prepared under this subsection shall--
(i) * * *
* * * * * * *
(vi) contain milestones for equipment acquisitions,
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,
and other actions necessary to implement the 5-year
plan consistent with the requirements of this section;
* * * * * * *
(4)(A) * * *
* * * * * * *
(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 of this title 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.
* * * * * * *