II 

Calendar No. 275 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2177 

[Report No. 116–154] 

To provide taxpayers with an improved understanding of Government programs through the disclosure of cost, performance, and areas of duplication among them, leverage existing data to achieve a functional Federal 

program inventory, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2019 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. ERNST, Mr. 

JOHNSON, Mr. ENZI, Mr. PAUL, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. TESTER, Mr. BRAUN, 

and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

Affairs 

OCTOBER 28, 2019 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To provide taxpayers with an improved understanding of 

Government programs through the disclosure of cost, 

performance, and areas of duplication among them, leverage existing data to achieve a functional Federal program inventory, and for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taxpayers Right-To5 Know Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INVENTORY OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS. 

7 Section 1122(a) of title 31, United States Code, is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

10 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; 

11 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re12 designated, the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub14 section— 

15 ‘‘(A) the term ‘Federal financial assist16 ance’ has the meaning given that term under 

17 section 7501; 

18 ‘‘(B) the term ‘open Government data 

19 asset’ has the meaning given that term under 

20 section 3502 of title 44; 

21 ‘‘(C) the term ‘program’ means a single 

22 program activity or an organized set of aggre23 gated, disaggregated, or consolidated program 

24 activities by 1 or more agencies directed toward 

25 a common purpose or goal; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) the term ‘program activity’ has the 

2 meaning given that term in section 1115(h).’’; 

3 (3) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘IN GENERAL.—Not later 

5 than October 1, 2012, the Office of Manage6 ment and Budget shall’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘WEBSITE AND PROGRAM INVENTORY.—The 

8 Director of the Office of Management and 

9 Budget shall’’; 

10 (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

11 ‘‘that includes the information required under 

12 subsections (b) and (c)’’ after ‘‘a single 

13 website’’; and 

14 (C) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C) 

15 and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(B) include on the website described in 

17 subparagraph (A), or another appropriate Fed18 eral Government website where related informa19 tion is made available, as determined by the Di20 rector— 

21 ‘‘(i) a program inventory that shall 

22 identify each program; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) for each program identified in 

24 the program inventory, the information re25 quired under paragraph (3); 


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1 ‘‘(C) make the information in the program 

2 inventory required under subparagraph (B) 

3 available as an open Government data asset; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(D) at a minimum— 

6 ‘‘(i) update the information required 

7 to be included on the single website under 

8 subparagraph (A) on a quarterly basis; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ii) update the program inventory re11 quired under subparagraph (B) on an an12 nual basis.’’; 

13 (4) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated— 

14 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

15 (A), by striking ‘‘described under paragraph (1) 

16 shall include’’ and inserting ‘‘identified in the 

17 program inventory required under paragraph 

18 (2)(B) shall include, for each program activity 

19 that is a part of a program’’; 

20 (B) by striking subparagraphs (A) and 

21 (C); 

22 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

23 subparagraph (A); 

24 (D) in subparagraph (A), as so redesig25 nated— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘program’’ each place 

2 it appears and inserting ‘‘program activ3 ity’’; and 

4 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

5 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(B) a consolidated view for the current 

7 fiscal year and each of the 2 fiscal years before 

8 the current fiscal year of— 

9 ‘‘(i) the amount appropriated; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the amount obligated; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) the amount outlayed; 

12 ‘‘(C) to the extent practicable and per13 mitted by law, links to any related evaluation, 

14 assessment, or program performance review by 

15 the agency, an inspector general, or the Govern16 ment Accountability Office (including program 

17 performance reports required under section 

18 1116), and other related evidence assembled in 

19 response to implementation of the Foundations 

20 for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 

21 (Public Law 115–435; 132 Stat. 5529); 

22 ‘‘(D) an identification of the statutes that 

23 authorize the program activity or the authority 

24 under which the program activity was created 

25 or operates; 


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1 ‘‘(E) an identification of any major regula2 tions specific to the program activity; 

3 ‘‘(F) any other information that the Direc4 tor of the Office of Management and Budget 

5 determines relevant relating to program activity 

6 data in priority areas most relevant to Congress 

7 or the public to increase transparency and ac8 countability; and 

9 ‘‘(G) for assistance listings under which 

10 Federal financial assistance is provided, for the 

11 current fiscal year and each of the 2 fiscal 

12 years before the current fiscal year and con13 sistent with existing law relating to the protec14 tion of personally identifiable information— 

15 ‘‘(i) a linkage to the relevant program 

16 activities that fund Federal financial as17 sistance by assistance listing; 

18 ‘‘(ii) information on the population in19 tended to be served by the assistance list20 ing based on the language of the solicita21 tion, as required under section 6102; 

22 ‘‘(iii) to the extent practicable based 

23 on data reported to the agency providing 

24 the Federal financial assistance, the results 


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1 of the Federal financial assistance awards 

2 provided by assistance listing; 

3 ‘‘(iv) to the extent practicable, the 

4 percentage of the amount appropriated for 

5 the assistance listing that is used for man6 agement and administration; 

7 ‘‘(v) the identification of each award 

8 of Federal financial assistance and, to the 

9 extent practicable, the name of each direct 

10 or indirect recipient of the award; and 

11 ‘‘(vi) any information relating to the 

12 award of Federal financial assistance that 

13 is required to be included on the website 

14 established under section 2(b) of the Fed15 eral Funding Accountability and Trans16 parency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 

17 note).’’; and 

18 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(4) ARCHIVING.—The Director of the Office of 

20 Management and Budget shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) archive and preserve the information 

22 included in the program inventory required 

23 under paragraph (2)(B) after the end of the pe24 riod during which such information is required 

25 to be made available under paragraph (3); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) make information archived in accord2 ance with subparagraph (A) available for re3 search via an archiving process that results in 

4 self-service of data access.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. GUIDANCE, IMPLEMENTATION, REPORTING, AND 

6 REVIEW. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 

9 the Office of Management and Budget; 

10 (2) the term ‘‘program’’ has the meaning given 

11 that term in section 1122(a)(1) of title 31, United 

12 States Code, as amended by section 2 of this Act; 

13 and 

14 (3) the term ‘‘program activity’’ has the mean15 ing given that term in section 1115(h) of title 31, 

16 United States Code. 

17 (b) PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION AND RECONCILING

18 PROGRAM DEFINITIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall sub20 mit to Congress a report that— 

21 (1) includes a plan that— 

22 (A) discusses how making available on a 

23 website the information required under sub24 section (a) of section 1122 of title 31, United 

25 States Code, as amended by section 2, will leVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:40 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2177.RS S2177

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1 verage existing data sources while avoiding du2 plicative or overlapping information in pre3 senting information relating to program activi4 ties and programs; 

5 (B) indicates how any gaps in data will be 

6 assessed and addressed; 

7 (C) indicates how the Director will display 

8 such data; and 

9 (D) discusses how the Director will expand 

10 the information collected with respect to pro11 gram activities to incorporate the information 

12 required under the amendments made by sec13 tion 2; 

14 (2) sets forth details regarding a pilot program, 

15 developed in accordance with best practices for effec16 tive pilot programs— 

17 (A) to develop and implement a functional 

18 program inventory that could be limited in 

19 scope; and 

20 (B) under which the information required 

21 under the amendments made by section 2 with 

22 respect to program activities shall be made 

23 available on the website required under section 

24 1122(a) of title 31, United States Code; 


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1 (3) establishes an implementation timeline 

2 for— 

3 (A) gathering and building program activ4 ity information; 

5 (B) developing and implementing the pilot 

6 program; 

7 (C) seeking and responding to stakeholder 

8 comments; 

9 (D) developing and presenting findings 

10 from the pilot program to Congress; 

11 (E) notifying Congress regarding how pro12 gram activities will be aggregated, 

13 disaggregated, or consolidated as part of identi14 fying programs; and 

15 (F) implementing a Governmentwide pro16 gram inventory through an iterative approach; 

17 and 

18 (4) including includes recommendations, if any, 

19 to reconcile the conflicting definitions of the term 

20 ‘‘program’’ in relevant Federal statutes, as it relates 

21 to the purpose of this Act. 

22 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

25 make available online all information required under 


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1 the amendments made by section 2 with respect to 

2 all programs. 

3 (2) EXTENSIONS.—The Director may, based on 

4 an analysis of the costs of implementation, and after 

5 submitting to Congress a notification of the action 

6 by the Director, extend the deadline for implementa7 tion under paragraph (1) by not more than a total 

8 of 1 year. 

9 (d) REPORTING.—Not later than 2 years after the 

10 date on which the Director makes available online all in11 formation required under the amendments made by sec12 tion 2 with respect to all programs, the Comptroller Gen13 eral of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

14 regarding the implementation of this Act and the amend15 ments made by this Act, which shall— 

16 (1) review how the Director and agencies deter17 mined how to aggregate, disaggregate, or consolidate 

18 program activities to provide the most useful infor19 mation for an inventory of Government investments; 

20 (2) evaluate the extent to which the program 

21 inventory required under section 1122 of title 31, 

22 United States Code, as amended by this Act, pro23 vides useful information for transparency, decision24 making, and oversight; 


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1 (3) evaluate the extent to which the program 

2 inventory provides a coherent picture of the scope of 

3 Federal investments in particular areas; and 

4 (4) include the recommendations of the Comp5 troller General, if any, for improving implementation 

6 of this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

7 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1122 of title 31, United 

9 States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 

11 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘described in subsection 

12 (a)(2)(A)’’ after ‘‘the website’’ each place it appears; 

13 (2) in subsection (c), in the matter preceding 

14 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘described in subsection 

15 (a)(2)(A)’’ after ‘‘the website’’; and 

16 (3) in subsection (d)— 

17 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

18 ‘‘ON WEBSITE’’; and 

19 (B) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘on 

20 the website’’. 

21 (b) OTHER AMENDMENTS.— 

22 (1) Section 1115(a) of title 31, United States 

23 Code, is amended in the matter preceding paragraph 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘the website provided under’’ and in25 serting ‘‘a website described in’’. 


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1 (2) Section 10 of the GPRA Modernization Act 

2 of 2010 (31 U.S.C. 1115 note) is amended— 

3 (A) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘the 

4 website described under’’ and inserting ‘‘a 

5 website described in’’; and 

6 (B) in subsection (b)— 

7 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the 

8 website described under’’ and inserting ‘‘a 

9 website described in’’; and 

10 (ii) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘the 

11 website as required under’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘a website described in’’. 

13 (3) Section 1120(a)(5) of title 31, United 

14 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the website de15 scribed under’’ and inserting ‘‘a website described 

16 in’’. 

17 (4) Section 1126(b)(2)(E) of title 31, United 

18 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the website of 

19 the Office of Management and Budget pursuant to’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘a website described in’’. 

21 (5) Section 3512(a)(1) of title 31, United 

22 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘the website de23 scribed under’’ and inserting ‘‘a website described 

24 in’’. 


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Calendar No. 275 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2177 

[Report No. 116–154] 

A BILL 

To provide taxpayers with an improved underand for other purposes. achieve a functional Federal program inventory, plication among them, leverage existing data to disclosure of cost, performance, and areas of du- standing of Government programs through the 

OCTOBER 28, 2019 

Reported with amendments 


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