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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3600 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3600

 To expand the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 
 2006 to increase accountability and transparency in Federal spending, 
                        and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 20, 2012

Mr. Warner (for himself and Mr. Portman) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To expand the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 
 2006 to increase accountability and transparency in Federal spending, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Digital Accountability and 
Transparency Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) expand the Federal Funding Accountability and 
        Transparency Act of 2006 by disclosing direct Federal agency 
        expenditures and linking Federal contract, loan, and grant 
        spending information to programs of Federal agencies in order 
        to enable taxpayers and policy makers to track Federal spending 
        more effectively;
            (2) provide consistent, reliable, and searchable 
        Government-wide spending data that is displayed accurately for 
        taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov;
            (3) analyze Federal spending data to proactively prevent 
        waste, fraud, abuse, and improper payments;
            (4) simplify reporting for entities receiving Federal funds 
        by streamlining reporting requirements and reducing compliance 
        costs while improving transparency; and
            (5) improve the quality of data submitted to 
        USASpending.gov by holding Federal agencies accountable for the 
        completeness and accuracy of the data submitted.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL FUNDING ACCOUNTABILITY AND 
              TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2006.

    (a) In General.--Section 2 of the Federal Funding Accountability 
and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by striking ``full disclosure 
        of entities receiving federal funding'' and inserting 
        ``disclosure of federal funding'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) 
                as paragraphs (2), (4), and (8), respectively;
                    (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 
                redesignated by subparagraph (A), the following:
            ``(1) Board.--The term `Board' means the Federal 
        Accountability and Spending Transparency Board established 
        under subsection (g)(1).'';
                    (C) by inserting after paragraph (2), as 
                redesignated by subparagraph (A), the following:
            ``(3) Federal agency.--The term `Federal agency' has the 
        meaning given the term `Executive agency' under section 105 of 
        title 5, United States Code.'';
                    (D) by inserting after paragraph (4), as 
                redesignated by subparagraph (A), the following:
            ``(5) Federal funds.--The term `Federal funds' means any 
        funds that are made available to or expended by a Federal 
        agency.
            ``(6) Object class.--The term `object class' means the 
        category assigned for purposes of the annual budget of the 
        President submitted under section 1105(a) of title 31, United 
        States Code, to the type of property or services purchased by 
        the Federal Government.
            ``(7) Program activity.--The term `program activity' has 
        the meaning given that term under section 1115(h) of title 31, 
        United States Code.''; and
                    (E) in paragraph (8), as redesignated by 
                subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``paragraph (2)(A)(i)'' and inserting 
                        ``paragraph (4)(A)(i)''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
                        ``paragraph (2)(A)(Ii)'' and inserting 
                        ``paragraph (4)(A)(ii)'';
            (3) in subsection (b)(1)--
                    (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (G) 
                as clauses (i) through (vii), respectively, and 
                adjusting the margin accordingly; and
                    (B) by striking ``for each Federal award--'' and 
                inserting the following: ``for all Federal funds--
                    ``(A) for each Federal agency, component of a 
                Federal agency, appropriations account, program 
                activity, and object class (including any subcomponent 
                of an object class), and other accounts or data as 
                appropriate--
                            ``(i) the amount of budget authority 
                        available;
                            ``(ii) the amount obligated;
                            ``(iii) the amount of outlays;
                            ``(iv) the amount of any Federal funds 
                        reprogrammed or transferred; and
                            ``(v) the amount of expired and unexpired 
                        unobligated balances; and
                    ``(B) for each Federal award--'';
            (4) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A), by striking ``and Grants.gov'' and 
                        inserting ``Grants.gov, the Payment Automation 
                        Manager and Federal Information Repository and 
                        other data or databases from the Department of 
                        the Treasury, and other data from Federal 
                        agencies collected and identified by the Office 
                        of Management and Budget'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by adding ``and'' 
                        at the end; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) specify such search shall be confined to 
                Federal funds;'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``the Payment 
                Automation Manager and Federal Information Repository 
                and other data or databases from the Department of the 
                Treasury, other data from Federal agencies collected 
                and identified by the Office of Management and 
                Budget,'' after ``Grants.gov website,'';
                    (C) in paragraph (4)--
                            (i) by striking ``shall be updated not 
                        later'' and inserting the following: ``shall be 
                        updated--
                    ``(A) not later''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) not less than once each quarter with 
                information relating to Federal funds; and'';
                    (D) in paragraph (5)--
                            (i) by inserting ``Federal funds and'' 
                        before ``Federal awards'' the first place it 
                        appears;
                            (ii) by striking ``subsection (a)(2)(A)(i) 
                        and those described in subsection 
                        (a)(2)(A)(ii)'' and inserting ``subsection 
                        (a)(4)(A)(i) and those described in subsection 
                        (a)(4)(A)(ii)''; and
                            (iii) by striking the period at the end and 
                        inserting ``; and''; and
                    (E) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) shall have the ability to aggregate data for the 
        categories described in paragraphs (1) through (5) without 
        double-counting data.'';
            (5) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (g) as 
        subsections (i), (j), and (k), respectively; and
            (6) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
    ``(e) Department of the Treasury Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall 
        collect and make available to the Office of Management and 
        Budget financial and payment data from Federal agencies to 
        assist the Office of Management and Budget in carrying out this 
        section.
            ``(2) Data standards.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury, 
                in consultation with the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget, the General Services 
                Administration, and the heads of Federal agencies, 
                shall establish Government-wide financial data 
                standards for Federal funds, which may--
                            ``(i) include common data elements, such as 
                        codes, unique award identifiers, and fields, 
                        for financial and payment information required 
                        to be reported by Federal agencies;
                            ``(ii) to the extent reasonable and 
                        practicable, ensure interoperability and 
                        incorporate--
                                    ``(I) common data elements 
                                developed and maintained by an 
                                international voluntary consensus 
                                standards body, as defined by the 
                                Office of Management and Budget, such 
                                as the International Organization for 
                                Standardization;
                                    ``(II) common data elements 
                                developed and maintained by Federal 
                                agencies with authority over 
                                contracting and financial assistance, 
                                such as the Federal Acquisition 
                                Regulatory Council; and
                                    ``(III) common data elements 
                                developed and maintained by accounting 
                                standards organizations; and
                            ``(iii) include data reporting standards 
                        that, to the extent reasonable and 
                        practicable--
                                    ``(I) incorporate a widely 
                                accepted, nonproprietary, searchable, 
                                platform-independent computer-readable 
                                format;
                                    ``(II) be consistent with and 
                                implement applicable accounting 
                                principles;
                                    ``(III) be capable of being 
                                continually upgraded as necessary; and
                                    ``(IV) incorporate nonproprietary 
                                standards in effect on the date of 
                                enactment of the Digital Accountability 
                                and Transparency Act of 2012.
                    ``(B) Deadlines.--
                            ``(i) Guidance.--The Secretary of the 
                        Treasury, in consultation with the Director of 
                        the Office of Management and Budget, shall 
                        issue guidance on the data standards 
                        established under subparagraph (A) to Federal 
                        agencies not later than 1 year after the date 
                        of enactment of the Digital Accountability and 
                        Transparency Act of 2012.
                            ``(ii) Agencies.--Not later than 1 year 
                        after the date on which the guidance under 
                        clause (i) is issued, each Federal agency shall 
                        collect, report, and maintain data in 
                        accordance with the data standards established 
                        under subparagraph (A).
            ``(3) Fraud center.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury, 
                in consultation with the heads and Inspectors General 
                of Federal agencies, shall use the data collected under 
                paragraph (1) and other available data (including 
                available data from State and local governments) to 
                detect, prevent, and recover improper payments through 
                pre-award, post-award pre-payment, and post-payment 
                analysis, which shall include analysis and 
                investigations incorporating--
                            ``(i) review and data matching of payments 
                        and beneficiary enrollment lists of State 
                        programs carried out using Federal funds for 
                        the purposes of identifying eligibility 
                        duplication, residency ineligibility, duplicate 
                        payments, or other potential improper payment 
                        issues;
                            ``(ii) review of multiple Federal agencies 
                        and programs for which comparison of data could 
                        show payment duplication; and
                            ``(iii) review of other information the 
                        Secretary of the Treasury determines are 
                        effective, which may include investigation or 
                        review of information from multiple Federal 
                        agencies or programs.
                    ``(B) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the 
                date of enactment of the Digital Accountability and 
                Transparency Act of 2012, the Secretary of the Treasury 
                shall submit to Congress a report, which may be 
                included as part of another report submitted to 
                Congress, which shall include a description of--
                            ``(i) the implementation of the Fraud 
                        Center described under subparagraph (A); and
                            ``(ii) the metrics used in determining 
                        whether the Fraud Center has reduced, or 
                        contributed to the reduction of, improper 
                        payments or improper awards.
            ``(4) Improvements to access to data.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In order to carry out this Act, 
                upon request by the Secretary of the Treasury--
                            ``(i) the Commissioner of Social Security 
                        shall make available the Social Security 
                        earnings information of a living or deceased 
                        employee;
                            ``(ii) the Director of the Bureau of 
                        Prisons shall make available information 
                        relating to Federal prisoners; and
                            ``(iii) the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
                        Development shall make available information in 
                        the Credit Alert Verification System of the 
                        Department of Housing and Urban Development.
                    ``(B) Use and protection of information.--The 
                Secretary of the Treasury--
                            ``(i) may only use information obtained 
                        under subparagraph (A) to assist in Federal 
                        debt collection and in the prevention, 
                        identification or recovery of improper 
                        payments; and
                            ``(ii) shall ensure that data collected 
                        under paragraph (1) is adequately protected and 
                        collected in a manner consistent with privacy 
                        protections provided for by law.
    ``(f) Streamline Recipient Financial Reports.--The Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget shall--
            ``(1) review the reporting required by Federal agencies for 
        Federal award recipients to reduce duplicative financial 
        reporting and compliance costs for recipients;
            ``(2) request input from Federal award recipients to reduce 
        duplicative financial reporting, especially from State and 
        local governments and institutes of higher education;
            ``(3) provide instructions to the heads of Federal agencies 
        regarding how to simplify the reporting requirements for 
        Federal award recipients to reduce duplicative reporting and 
        reports to reduce compliance costs, as appropriate; and
            ``(4) submit to Congress a report regarding any legislative 
        action required to streamline the reporting requirements for 
        Federal award recipients.
    ``(g) Federal Accountability Spending and Transparency Board.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--There is established an interagency 
        advisory board to be known as the Federal Accountability and 
        Spending Transparency Board.
            ``(2) Members.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Board shall consist of 5 
                members.
                    ``(B) Appointment.--The members of the Board--
                            ``(i) shall be appointed by the President;
                            ``(ii) except as provided in clause (iii), 
                        shall be an Inspector General, Chief Financial 
                        Officer, or Deputy Secretary of a Federal 
                        agency; and
                            ``(iii) shall include not less than one 
                        senior official from the Office of Management 
                        and Budget.
                    ``(C) Chairperson.--The President shall designate a 
                Chairperson from among the members of the Board.
            ``(3) Responsibilities.--The Board shall--
                    ``(A) provide strategic direction for enhancing the 
                transparency of Federal spending based on the purposes 
                identified in section 2 of the Digital Accountability 
                and Transparency Act of 2012;
                    ``(B) monitor the establishment of the Government-
                wide financial data standards under subsection 
                (e)(2)(A), to support increased transparency and 
                accountability;
                    ``(C) monitor the collection, storage, and public 
                disclosure of information about Federal spending 
                transparency and compliance with this Act;
                    ``(D) advance efforts to remediate fraud, waste, 
                and abuse in Federal programs;
                    ``(E) use the lessons learned from the activities 
                of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board; 
                and
                    ``(F) solicit input from State and local 
                governments, institutes of higher education, and other 
                Federal award recipients on ways to improve Federal 
                financial reporting.
            ``(4) Reports.--The Chairperson of the Board, in 
        consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and 
        Budget, shall submit on a public website, to the Committee on 
        Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and 
        the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 
        of Representatives an annual report regarding implementation of 
        this Act.
            ``(5) Termination of superseded board.--Effective on the 
        date on with the President has appointed all members of the 
        Board, the Government Accountability and Transparency Board 
        established under Executive Order 13576 (76 Fed. Reg. 35297) 
        shall terminate.
    ``(h) Accountability for Federal Funding.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 
        2012, and every 2 years thereafter, the Inspector General of 
        each Federal agency, in consultation with the Comptroller 
        General of the United States, shall submit to Congress and make 
        publically available a report on the completeness, timeliness, 
        quality, and accuracy of the data submitted under this Act by 
        the Federal agency and the implementation and use of consistent 
        data standards by the Federal agency.
            ``(2) Comptroller general.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the 
                date of enactment of the Digital Accountability and 
                Transparency Act of 2012, and every 2 years thereafter 
                until the date that is 10 years after such date of 
                enactment, and after review of the reports submitted 
                under paragraph (1), the Comptroller General of the 
                United States shall submit to Congress and make 
                publically available a report on the data completeness, 
                timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data submitted 
                under this Act by each Federal agency and the 
                implementation and use of consistent data standards by 
                each Federal agency.
                    ``(B) Ranking.--The Comptroller General of the 
                United States shall make available a ranking of Federal 
                agencies regarding data quality, accuracy, and 
                compliance with this Act.''.
    (b) Classified and Protected Information.--Section 3 of the Federal 
Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 
note) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 3. CLASSIFIED AND PROTECTED INFORMATION.

    ``Nothing in this Act shall require the disclosure to the public or 
to any person without an identifiable need to know--
            ``(1) classified information;
            ``(2) personally identifiable information;
            ``(3) information that would compromise national security;
            ``(4) information that would endanger the personal safety 
        of all entities employees or clients; or
            ``(5) information protected under section 552a of title 5, 
        United States Code (commonly known as the `Privacy Act of 
        1974'), or section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
        1986.''.
    (c) Expanding Access by the Secretary of the Treasury to the 
National Directory of New Hires.--Section 453(j)(9) of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653(j)(9)) is amended--
            (1) in the paragraph heading, by inserting ``and in the 
        prevention, identification, and recovery of improper payments'' 
        after ``collection'';
            (2) in subparagraph (A)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking 
                ``with respect to persons--'' and inserting ``to assist 
                in Federal debt collection and in the prevention, 
                identification, or recovery of improper payments with 
                respect to--'';
                    (B) by striking ``who owe'' and inserting the 
                following: ``persons--
                                    ``(I) who owe'';
                    (C) by striking ``31 U.S.C. 3711(g).'' and 
                inserting ``section 3711(g) of title 31, United States 
                Code; or'';
                    (D) redesignating clause (ii) as subclause (II), 
                and adjusting the margin accordingly; and
                    (E) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(ii) persons--
                                    ``(I) who receive a payment the 
                                head of a Federal executive, judicial, 
                                or legislative agency certifies is 
                                under review to determine the 
                                eligibility of the person to receive 
                                the payment; or
                                    ``(II) whose eligibility, or 
                                continuing eligibility, to participate 
                                in a program of the Federal Government 
                                (including a program administered by a 
                                State or local government) is being 
                                reviewed.'';
            (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``to improve 
        collection of the debt'' and inserting ``for the purposes'';
            (4) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``of collecting the 
        debt'';
            (5) in subparagraph (E)--
                    (A) in clause (i), by striking ``of collecting the 
                debt'';
                    (B) in clause (ii), by inserting ``and to a 
                Federal, State, or local agency in connection with 
                preventing, identifying, or recovering improper 
                payments as described in subparagraph (A)'' before the 
                period at the end;
                    (C) in clause (iv)(II), by striking ``described in 
                subparagraph (A),'' and all that follows and inserting 
                ``, in connection with a purpose described in 
                subparagraph (A), to a contractor or agent of either 
                Secretary, to the Federal agency (including any 
                contractor or agent of the Federal agency) that 
                referred a debt to the Secretary of the Treasury for 
                collection, or to a Federal, State, or local agency 
                (including any contractor or agent of any such agency) 
                for purposes of preventing, identifying, or recovering 
                improper payments, subject to the conditions in clause 
                (iii) and such additional conditions as agreed by the 
                Secretaries.''; and
                    (D) in clause (v), by striking ``collecting the 
                debt'' and inserting ``the purposes''; and
            (6) in subparagraph (F), by adding at the end the 
        following: ``The Secretary of the Treasury shall reimburse the 
        Secretary for any costs attributable to the prevention, 
        identification, or recovery of improper payments out of any 
        appropriation available to the Secretary of the Treasury for 
        this purpose.''.

SEC. 4. EXECUTIVE AGENCY ACCOUNTING AND OTHER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 
              REPORTS AND PLANS.

    Section 3512(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``and make available on 
        the website described under section 1122'' after ``appropriate 
        committees of Congress'';
            (2) in paragraph (3)(B)(vi), by inserting ``, system 
        development, financial management workforce development, 
        related risk assessment and mitigation for the Federal 
        Government as a whole, related risk assessment and mitigation 
        for executive agencies, development of capacity to prevent and 
        detect fraud,'' after ``equipment acquisitions''; and
            (3) in paragraph (4), by adding at the end the following:
    ``(C) Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the 
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2012, and every 90 days 
thereafter, the Director shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
the Congress and make available on the website described under section 
1122 a report regarding--
            ``(i) specific goals for the most recent full fiscal year, 
        the fiscal year during which the report is submitted, and the 
        fiscal year following the year during which the report is 
        submitted that are necessary steps toward implementing the 
        Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 
        U.S.C. 6101 note) fully and in an effective, efficient, and 
        accurate manner;
            ``(ii) the estimated cost, schedule, and performance 
        associated with goals described in clause (i) that relate to 
        capital investments in information technology; and
            ``(iii) the status and progress achieved toward each goal 
        described in clause (i), including any changes to the cost, 
        schedule, or performance baselines of achieving each goal, 
        using earned value management where appropriate.''.
                                 <all>
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