[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
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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\
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\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'').
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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.
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\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.
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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\
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\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).
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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.
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\16\2 U.S.C. Sec. 603(e).
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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
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
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.
* * * * * * *
[all]