QUICK TURNAROUND: 3pm Monday (4/23) Support DATA Act
Amy Bennett
Hi everyone (please excuse cross-posting),
To add your organization to the below letter in support of the DATA Act, please use this webform: http://bit.ly/IqNX5e (it will take just a few seconds), or email the Sunlight Foundation’s Daniel Schuman at dsch...@sunlightfoundation.com by 3 pm on Monday, April 23.
The DATA Act will dramatically improve federal spending transparency by creating an independent commission that is responsible for publishing and monitoring federal spending (like the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board) and providing for the establishment of consistent government-wide financial data reporting standards.
We hope you will join us in supporting this important step towards shining a light on federal spending.
Thanks,
Amy Bennett, OpenTheGovernment.org
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Members of the House of Representatives:
We, the undersigned organizations, are writing in strong support of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act), H.R. 2146, which is planned for a floor vote this Wednesday. The DATA Act is an important step towards improving federal financial transparency and would empower the public to better understand how their federal dollars are being spent.
Currently available data on federal spending is incomplete and inconsistent. The DATA Act would centralize and simplify the convoluted spending reporting standards so that every government agency reports their spending in the same way. Importantly, the bill also includes uniform reporting from recipients of federal funds. All of this information will be readily available to the public.
The DATA Act establishes an independent commission responsible for publishing and monitoring federal spending, modeled after the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. It also sets consistent government-wide standards for financial data reporting. Its enactment will greatly improve the scope, granularity, timeliness, usefulness, and accuracy of public reports on federal spending beyond what is currently available.
Concerns many of us expressed with earlier versions of the legislation have been addressed. For example, the bill provides for the continuity of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act and USAspending.gov. It ensures that reporting requirements will persist even if the Commission sunsets. It requires prime federal award recipients to identify all sub-awards, and expands Treasury Department reporting requirements. It also strengthens the Government Accountability Office’s ability to obtain certain agency records.
This bill, introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), was passed unanimously by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and enjoys strong bipartisan support.
We urge that you be present and vote “yes” on the DATA Act to shine a light on the spending of our tax dollars.
For more information, please contact Daniel Schuman of the Sunlight Foundation at 202-742-1520 X 273 (dsch...@sunlightfoundation.com), Angela Canterbury of the Project on Government Oversight at 202-347-1122 (acant...@pogo.org), or Sam Rosen-Amy of OMB Watch at 202-234-8494 (sros...@ombwatch.org).