Spending database bill headed to president
FedNews-Online
September 15, 2006
The decision to establish a searchable database of federal spending now rests with President George W. Bush.
Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed on a voice vote a bill that would establish a Google-like search engine for federal spending.
Sen. Tom Coburn introduced the bill in April, but in late July the bill was stalled by a secret hold that prevented it from reaching the Senate floor.
The bill passed on a unanimous consent vote one day after Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, released his hold on the bill. Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W. Va., had also placed a hold on the bill, but he had released it a few days before Stevens. (See SEARCHABLE DATABASE ON HOLD)
Since both the House and Senate versions of the bill are identical, the legislation can bypass conference reconciliation and head straight to the White House.
“Every American has the right to know how their government spends their money, and then to hold elected officials accountable for those decisions. I applaud my colleagues for unanimously supporting a bill that will aid the American people in that effort. This bill is a small, but significant, step toward changing the culture in Washington,” said Coburn.
S. 2590 had bipartisan support -- both Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., -- were two early cosponsors.
The bill tasks the Office of Management and Budget with maintaining an Internet database containing information about an entity receiving federal funding, including:
- The entity’s name
- The amount of any federal funds the entity has received in each of the past 10 fiscal years
- An itemized breakdown of each transaction, including funding agency, program source and a description of the purpose of each funding action
- The location of the entity and primary location of performance, including the city, state, Congressional district and country
- A unique identifier for each such entity and parent entity
Information concerning transactions involving individuals, federal employees or matters of national security would not be included.
If enacted, the bill would force OMB to post information from FY 1999 onward by the end of FY 2009.
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