[Senate Report 118-40]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 94
118th Congress     }                                     {      Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session       }                                     {      118-40
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     


              CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE DATA ACCESS ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 1549

            TO PROVIDE THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE WITH
            NECESSARY AUTHORITIES TO EXPEDITE THE SHARING OF
      DATA FROM EXECUTIVE BRANCH AGENCIES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES





[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]






                 June 13, 2023.--Ordered to be printed  
                             _________
                              
                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                 
39-010                   WASHINGTON : 2023
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
                 
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           RAND PAUL, Kentucky
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  MITT ROMNEY, Utah
ALEX PADILLA, California             RICK SCOTT, Florida
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut      ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                    Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
            Lena C. Chang, Director of Governmental Affairs
                Carter A. Hirschhorn, Research Assistant
           William E. Henderson III, Minority Staff Director
              Christina N. Salazar, Minority Chief Counsel
                  Andrew J. Hopkins, Minority Counsel
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk














                                                       Calendar No. 94
118th Congress     }                                     {      Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session       }                                     {      118-40

======================================================================



 
              CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE DATA ACCESS ACT

                                _______
                                

                 June 13, 2023.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1549]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 1549), to provide 
the Congressional Budget Office with necessary authorities to 
expedite the sharing of data from executive branch agencies, 
and for other purposes, having considered the same reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                    Page
  I. Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
III. Legislative History.............................................. 4
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported............. 4
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact.................................. 4
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................ 5
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 5

                         I. Purpose and Summary

    S. 1549, the Congressional Budget Office Data Access Act, 
accelerates the speed and improves the accuracy with which the 
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyzes the budgetary impact 
of proposed legislation. The bill provides CBO with an 
exemption to the Privacy Act of 1974 (hereinafter ``Privacy 
Act''), which would allow CBO to more easily access data and 
information maintained by federal agencies that it needs to 
conduct its assessments. The bill authorizes agencies to 
disclose records in their systems to the Director of CBO or 
authorized CBO representative without requiring prior written 
consent of the individual to whom the record pertains under the 
Privacy Act.

              II. Background and Need for the Legislation

    The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 
1974 (commonly referred to as the ``Budget Act'') established 
CBO and authorized it to perform cost estimates on all 
legislation that moves through one or both chambers of 
Congress. The law authorizes CBO to ``secure information, data, 
estimates, and statistics directly from the various 
departments, agencies, and establishments of the executive 
branch of Government and the regulatory agencies and 
commissions,'' and requires those agencies to provide that 
information to the CBO Director in carrying out their 
duties.\1\ CBO's nonpartisan products, like cost estimates or 
analytic reports, are critical for Congress to gain access to 
objective, nonpartisan information to inform the budget 
process. For example, CBO's cost estimates are the primary 
method for Members of Congress to understand and assess the 
budgetary consequences of enacting legislation approved by a 
Congressional committee.\2\ Additionally, Senate Rule XXVI 
requires cost estimates to report legislation out of Committee 
(except the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on 
the Budget), and prohibits the Senate from considering bills 
without these estimates.\3\ As a result, delays in receiving 
cost estimates can hold up the legislative process, by delaying 
the Senate's ability to vote on legislation.\4\ CBO's analytic 
reports, often produced at the request of committee or party 
leadership, cover every major federal policy area and 
frequently present options for and estimates associated with 
changing a federal program or tax rule.\5\ All of these 
products rely on quick access to accurate data and 
information.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 Pub. L. 
93-344, Sec. 201(d)(1974).
    \2\Congressional Budget Office, Frequently Asked Questions About 
CBO Cost Estimates (Feb. 2013).
    \3\Senate Rule XXVI; Senate Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs, Rules of Procedure of the Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs, Rule 6(E) (S. Prt. 118-6) (Mar. 
2023).
    \4\Id.
    \5\Congressional Budget Office, About CBO, Products (www.cbo.gov/
about/products#5) (accessed May 23, 2023); for example, see 
Congressional Budget Office, Budgetary Outcomes Under Alternative 
Assumptions About Spending and Revenues (May 2023).
    \6\Congressional Budget Office, The Congressional Budget Office's 
Access to Data From Federal Agencies (June 2021) (hereinafter ``CBO 
Data Access Report'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Despite a mandate for agencies to provide information to 
CBO, obstacles remain, particularly around Privacy Act 
restrictions on sharing data.\7\ This bill would remove 
obstacles facing CBO in obtaining agency data necessary to 
carry out its duties efficiently and accurately. Access to 
agencies' data is critical for CBO to fulfill its mission and 
provide baseline budget projections, economic projections, cost 
estimates, and reports. While publicly available data can help 
CBO respond to Congressional requests quickly, CBO also needs 
to rely on non-public data to produce the most accurate 
analyses. Access to some non-public restricted data requires 
CBO to enter into memorandums of understanding or data sharing 
agreements with agencies. Data sharing agreements can result in 
lengthy negotiations; CBO estimates that agreements can take, 
in extenuating circumstances, up to five years to negotiate.\8\ 
A lack of agreement can reduce the accuracy of CBO cost 
estimates (when those estimates do not include data that are 
still in negotiation) or delay production of other products 
(while data agreements are negotiated).\9\ Because Congress 
does not currently provide CBO with an explicit Privacy Act 
exemption, some agencies' interpretations of the Privacy Act 
have caused them to delay access to information because they 
believed that a data set included personal information which 
would require prior written consent from an individual.\10\ 
Delays for key agency information can be costly; prohibiting 
CBO's ability to factor certain data into time sensitive 
analyses and delaying CBO's delivery of certain products.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \7\Congressional Budget Office, Meeting with Majority Staff of the 
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Apr. 
2023).
    \8\CBO Data Access Report.
    \9\House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, 
Questions Submitted for the Record of Phillip L. Swagel, Director of 
the Congressional Budget Office, CBO's Efforts to Enhance its 
Transparency, Effectiveness, and Efficiency, 117th Cong. (Dec. 7, 
2021); Congressional Budget Office, Meeting with Majority Staff of the 
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Apr. 
2023).
    \10\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In 2022, agency data helped CBO produce 760 cost estimates 
(generally on bills reported out of Senate and House 
committees), thousands of requests for technical assistance, 
and 83 reports, working papers, testimonies, and interactive 
tools.\11\ While CBO continues to evolve to meet the evolving 
needs of Congress, CBO outlined how shifting legal and 
regulatory frameworks of federal agencies can restrict CBO's 
access to federal data, like pharmaceutical pricing data and 
student loan data. In response to one of these issues--
potential loss of access to pharmaceutical pricing data--
Congress amended the Social Security Act, which put CBO on 
equal footing with agencies like the Government Accountability 
Office (GAO) to help restore CBO's access to pharmaceutical 
pricing information.\12\ Similarly, this bill would put CBO on 
equal footing with GAO, by providing CBO the same exemption to 
the Privacy Act provided to GAO and both Houses of 
Congress.\13\ In drafting the Privacy Act, the Comptroller 
General was provided an exemption to the restrictions on data 
access and sharing for the performance of his auditing 
duties.\14\ However, CBO, which was established the same year 
as the Privacy Act's enactment, was not granted the same 
exemption.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \11\Congressional Budget Office, The Congressional Budget Office's 
Request for Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2024 (Feb. 2023).
    \12\Id.
    \13\5 U.S. Code Sec. 552(a).
    \14\Id.
    \15\Pub. L. No. 93-344 (1974).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As with GAO's statutory obligation to maintain the same 
level of confidentiality required of an agency head for any 
record made available by an agency to GAO under GAO's 
information gathering authority, CBO's existing authorization 
for access to agency data requires CBO to maintain the same 
level of confidentiality as is required of the agency or 
commission from which it is obtained.\16\ This bill provides 
clarity for agency information managers that CBO is authorized 
to receive personal information otherwise protected by the 
Privacy Act and ensures that CBO continues to maintain the same 
confidentiality protections as applied to the agency itself. 
This legislation will reduce the time that CBO spends 
negotiating with an agency for data and improve CBO's analyses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \16\2 U.S.C. Sec. 603(e).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        III. Legislative History

    Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced S. 1549, the 
Congressional Budget Office Data Access Act, on May 10, 2023, 
with original cosponsor Senator Susan Collins (R-ME). The bill 
was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) joined as a 
cosponsor on May 15, 2023.
    The Committee considered S. 1549 at a business meeting on 
May 17, 2023. At the business meeting, S. 1549 was ordered 
reported favorably by a roll call vote of 11 yeas to 0 nays, 
with Senators Peters, Hassan, Sinema, Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff, 
Blumenthal, Paul, Lankford, Romney, and Scott voting in the 
affirmative. Senators Carper, Johnson, Hawley, and Marshall 
voted yea by proxy, for the record only.

        IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported


Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the name of the bill as the 
``Congressional Budget Office Data Access Act.''

Section 2. Conditions of Disclosure for Federal Agency Information with 
        the Congressional Budget Office

    This section amends section 552a of Title 5, United States 
Code (known as the Privacy Act) by adding the Director of CBO, 
or any authorized representative of the CBO Director, in the 
course of their official duties to those who are exempt from 
the Privacy Act. This section also makes technical changes to 
section 552a of Title 5, United States Code.

                   V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate


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    S. 1549 would amend the Privacy Act of 1974 to authorize 
the disclosure of certain information to the Congressional 
Budget Office (CBO). In general, the Privacy Act prohibits 
executive branch agencies from disclosing certain records 
without the prior written consent of the people to whom the 
records pertain. There are currently twelve exceptions to this 
prohibition, and S. 1549 would add a thirteenth specifically 
for disclosures to CBO.
    The Congressional Budget Act provides CBO with access to 
information from the Executive Branch unless disclosure would 
be a violation of law. In addition, that Act requires CBO to 
maintain the same level of confidentiality as is required by 
the agency from which the data is obtained. CBO employees are 
also subject to the same statutory penalties as employees at 
the executive branch agency are for unauthorized disclosure or 
use.
    S. 1549 would strengthen CBO's ability to access data, 
which would allow CBO to obtain some data more quickly. In 
total, CBO estimates that implementing S.1549 would have no 
significant net effect on federal spending.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                             Director, Congressional Budget Office.

       VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is 
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

UNITED STATES CODE

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


PART 1--THE AGENCIES GENERALLY

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


CHAPTER 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



Subchapter II--Administrative Procedure

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



SEC. 552A. RECORDS MAINTAINED ON INDIVIDUALS.

    (a) * * *
    (b) * * *
          (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (11) to the Director of the Congressional Budget 
        Office, or any authorized representative of the 
        Director, in the course of performance of the duties of 
        the Congressional Budget Office;
          [(11)] (12) pursuant to the order of a court of 
        competent jurisdiction; or
        [[(12)] (13) to a consumer reporting agency in 
        accordance with section 3711(e) of title 31.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


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