Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security on September 26, 2006 |
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (S. 2590)[2] is an Act of Congress that requires the full disclosure to the public of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2007. The website USAspending.gov opened in December 2007 as a result of the act, and is maintained by the Office of Management and Budget. The Congressional Budget Office estimates S. 2590 will cost $15 million over its authorized time period of 2007–2011.[3]
The bill was introduced by Senator
On June 3, 2008, Senator Obama, along with Senators Carper, Coburn and McCain, introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008.[7]
Description
The bill states in part:[8]
Not later than January 1, 2008, the Office of Management and Budget 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 –
- (A) the name of the entity receiving the award;
- (B) the amount of the award;
- (C) information on the award including transaction type, funding agency, the North American Industry Classification System code or
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistancenumber (where applicable), program source, and an award title descriptive of the purpose of each funding action;
- (D) 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) 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; and
- (F) any other relevant information specified by the Office of Management and Budget.
Sponsors in the Senate
In addition to Coburn, Obama, and McCain, there were 43 other senators who co-sponsored this bill:
Legislative history
The act had strong bipartisan support at every stage in the legislative process.[9]
Senate
S. 2590 was introduced in the Senate on April 6, 2006, and then sent to the
House
S. 2590 introduced in the House on September 8, 2006. It was agreed upon and passed by voice vote[9] five days later and S.Con.Res. 114 was agreed to and passed by both the House and the Senate on the same day.[2][14]
"Secret hold"
Some time after August 2, 2006, Senators
Prompted by political
Presidential action
President
Sister bill in the House
H.R. 5060, an amendment to the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999, was passed by the House of Representatives on June 21, 2006, and sent to the Senate. H.R. 5060 can be considered a sister bill to S. 2590, but it is weaker than S. 2590 because it only considers federal grants.[21] This bill died when S. 2590 was passed by the House and S.Con.Res. 114 was passed by the House and Senate because S. 2590 considers a superset of the actions of H.R. 5060.
Implementation
The legislation delegated responsibility for creating the website to the
It has been reported that the 2011 United States federal budget holds a substantial reduction in funding for the Electronic Government Fund, from which USASpending.gov draws its funding.[24]
References
- ^ a b "S. 2590" (PDF). Congressional Record: S3239. April 6, 2006.
- ^ a b "Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (S. 2590) Summary". THOMAS.gov. Retrieved August 29, 2006.
- ^ "Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate S. 2590". Congressional Budget Office. August 9, 2006. Retrieved September 1, 2006.
- ^ a b c Koppel, Andrea; Barrett, Ted; Tatton, Abbi (August 30, 2006). "Sen. Stevens is 'the secret senator'". CNN. Retrieved August 30, 2006.
- ^ a b c Carr, Rebecca. "Byrd Admits He Placed A Hold, Now Lifts It". Palm Beach Post (Blog). West Palm Beach, Florida: Gatehouse Media. Archived from the original on September 3, 2006. Retrieved August 31, 2006.
- ^ "President Bush Signs Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act" (Press release). The White House. September 26, 2006.
- ^ S. 3077: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008, Govtrack.us, 2007–2008 (110th Congress).
- ^ a b "Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (S. 2590) Text" (TXT). GPO. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- ^ a b c Hatch, Garrett L. (October 22, 2008). "The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act: Implementation and Proposed Amendments" (PDF). Congressional Research Service.
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(help) Order Code RL34718 - ^ a b "All Congressional Action on S. 2590". THOMAS.gov. Retrieved August 29, 2006.
- ^ Bill Frist, M.D. "Now is the Time to Act on S. 2590". Volunteer Political Action Committee (VOLPAC). Retrieved September 1, 2006.
- ^ Bill Frist, M.D. "A Triumph for Transparency in Government". Volunteer Political Action Committee (VOLPAC). Retrieved September 7, 2006.
- ^ Jonathan E. Kaplan. "Stellar staffers in a dark and dismal year". The Hill. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved June 30, 2009.
- ^ "Senate Concurrent Resolution 114 Summary". THOMAS.gov. Retrieved September 14, 2006.
- ^ Dug Begley. "Coburn Critical Of Colleagues". Times Record of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Retrieved August 30, 2006.
- ^ "TPMmuckraker's "Secret Hold" Tally". TPMmuckraker.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2006. Retrieved August 29, 2006.
- ^ Paul Kiel. "Blogosphere Unites in Pursuit of Masked Senator". TPMmuckraker.com. Archived from the original on August 30, 2006. Retrieved August 29, 2006.
- ^ "Who is the Secret Holder?".
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(help) - ^ Liz Mair. "We need S. 2590. So won't the secret holder please stand up?". GOPProgress. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007. Retrieved September 7, 2006.
- ^ "Bush signs transparency bill". TimChapmanBlog. Archived from the original on December 18, 2006. Retrieved September 26, 2006.
- ^ "Amendment to the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999 Summary". THOMAS.gov. Archived from the original on September 25, 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2006.
- ^ a b Elizabeth Williamson (December 13, 2007). "OMB Offers an Easy Way to Follow the Money". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
- ^ Lawder, David (May 9, 2017). "U.S. Treasury upgrades website to better track federal spending data". Reuters. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
- ^ Ed O'Keefe (14 April 2011). "Budget could close the door on open government" (blog posting). Federal Eye. Washington Post. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
External links
- USASpending.gov – official government spending database
- Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (PDF/details) as amended in the GPO Statute Compilations collection
- Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 as enacted in the US Statutes at Large
- S.2590 on Congress.gov
- WashingtonWatch.com – P.L. 109–282, The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 Archived 2008-12-04 at the Wayback Machine information on the bill, including estimated cost per person
- The Scoop on "Secret Holds": No Rules Apply by Justin Rood, TPMuckraker, August 29, 2006
- "The Google-Like Pork Thing on the Internets", October 2006
- Palin's transparency proposal already exists