Title: Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act
This bill requires that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website include an inventory that identifies each federal program for which there is more than $1 million in annual budget authority.
For programs for which there is more than $1 million but not more than $10 million in annual budget authority (smaller programs), the inventory must include:
For programs for which there is more than $10 million in annual budget authority (larger programs), the inventory must also include specified additional information, including financial information for each program activity required to be reported under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.
The OMB shall archive and preserve the program inventory.
The bill requires the OMB to issue initial guidance to assist agencies in identifying how the program activities used in budget or appropriations accounts correspond with programs identified in the program inventory. The OMB may: (1) issue initial guidance to agencies to ensure that programs are presented at a similar level of detail across agencies and are not duplicative; (2) exempt from the requirements of this bill, based on an analysis of the costs of implementation, agencies that are not required to have a chief financial officer and that have not more than $10 million in budget authority; and (3) based on an analysis of the costs of implementation, extend the bill's implementation deadline (June 30, 2019) in one-year increments and by not more than two years.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 317 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 317

  To provide taxpayers with an annual report disclosing the cost and 
performance of Government programs and areas of duplication among them, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 6, 2017

 Mr. Lankford (for himself, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Johnson, Ms. Heitkamp, 
  Mr. McCain, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Portman, Mr. Daines, and Mrs. Fischer) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide taxpayers with an annual report disclosing the cost and 
performance of Government programs and areas of duplication among them, 
                        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 ``Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act''.

SEC. 2. INVENTORY OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1122(a) of title 31, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as paragraphs 
        (2) and (3), respectively;
            (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 
        the following:
            ``(1) Definition of program.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, the term `program' means an organized set of 
        activities by 1 or more agencies directed toward a common 
        purpose or goal.'';
            (3) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated--
                    (A) by striking ``In general.--Not later than 
                October 1, 2012, the Office of Management and Budget 
                shall'' and inserting ``Website and program 
                inventory.--The Director of the Office of Management 
                and Budget shall'';
                    (B) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the 
                following:
                    ``(C) include on the website--
                            ``(i) a program inventory that shall 
                        identify each program of the Federal Government 
                        for which there is more than $1,000,000 in 
                        annual budget authority, which shall include--
                                    ``(I) any activity that is commonly 
                                referred to as a program by a Federal 
                                agency in communications with Congress, 
                                including any activity identified as a 
                                program in a budget request;
                                    ``(II) any activity that is 
                                commonly referred to as a program by a 
                                Federal agency in communications with 
                                the public, including each program for 
                                which financial awards are made on a 
                                competitive basis; and
                                    ``(III) any activity referenced in 
                                law as a program after June 30, 2019; 
                                and
                            ``(ii) for each program identified in the 
                        program inventory, the information required 
                        under paragraph (3) or paragraph (4), as 
                        applicable.'';
            (4) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 
                striking ``Information.--Information for each program 
                described under paragraph (1)'' and inserting 
                ``Information for larger programs.--Information for 
                each program identified in the program inventory 
                required under paragraph (2) for which there is more 
                than $10,000,000 in annual budget authority'';
                    (B) by striking subparagraph (C);
                    (C) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 
                subparagraph (D);
                    (D) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the 
                following:
                    ``(A) an identification of the program activities 
                that are aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated as 
                part of identifying programs;
                    ``(B) for each program activity described in 
                subparagraph (A), the amount of funding for the current 
                fiscal year and previous 2 fiscal years;
                    ``(C) an estimate of the amount of funding for the 
                program;'';
                    (E) in subparagraph (D), as so redesignated, by 
                striking ``and'' at the end; and
                    (F) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) an identification of the statutes that 
                authorize the program and any major regulations 
                specific to the program;
                    ``(F) for any program that provides grants or other 
                financial assistance to individuals or entities, for 
                the most recent fiscal year--
                            ``(i) a description of the individuals 
                        served by the program and beneficiaries who 
                        received financial assistance under the 
                        program, including an estimate of the number of 
                        individuals and beneficiaries, to the extent 
                        practicable;
                            ``(ii) for each program for which the head 
                        of an agency determines it is not practicable 
                        to provide an estimate of the number of 
                        individuals and beneficiaries served by the 
                        program--
                                    ``(I) an explanation of why data 
                                regarding the number of such 
                                individuals and beneficiaries cannot be 
                                provided; and
                                    ``(II) a discussion of the measures 
                                that could be taken to gather the data 
                                required to provide such an estimate; 
                                and
                            ``(iii) a description of--
                                    ``(I) the Federal employees who 
                                administer the program, including the 
                                number of full-time equivalents with a 
                                pro rata estimate for full-time 
                                equivalents associated with multiple 
                                programs; and
                                    ``(II) other individuals whose 
                                salary is paid in part or full by the 
                                Federal Government through a grant, 
                                contract, cooperative agreement, or 
                                another form of financial award or 
                                assistance who administer or assist in 
                                any way in administering the program, 
                                including the number of full-time 
                                equivalents, to the extent practicable;
                    ``(G) links to any evaluation, assessment, or 
                program performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector 
                General, or the Government Accountability Office 
                (including program performance reports required under 
                section 1116) released during the preceding 5 years; 
                and
                    ``(H) to the extent practicable, financial and 
                other information for each program activity required to 
                be reported under the Federal Funding Accountability 
                and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).''; 
                and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Information for smaller programs.--Information for 
        each program identified in the program inventory required under 
        paragraph (2) for which there is more than $1,000,000 and not 
        more than $10,000,000 in annual budget authority shall, at a 
        minimum, include--
                    ``(A) an identification of the program activities 
                that are aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated as 
                part of identifying programs;
                    ``(B) for each program activity described in 
                subparagraph (A), the amount of funding for the current 
                fiscal year and previous 2 fiscal years;
                    ``(C) an identification of the statutes that 
                authorize the program and any major regulations 
                specific to the program;
                    ``(D) for any program that provides grants or other 
                financial assistance to individuals or entities, a 
                description of the individuals served by the program 
                and beneficiaries who received financial assistance 
                under the program for the most recent fiscal year; and
                    ``(E) links to any evaluation, assessment, or 
                program performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector 
                General, or the Government Accountability Office 
                (including program performance reports required under 
                section 1116) released during the preceding 5 years.
            ``(5) Archiving.--After the end of each fiscal year, the 
        Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall archive 
        and preserve the information included in the program inventory 
        required under paragraph (2) relating to that fiscal year.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to 
carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act a total of 
$18,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020.

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

    (a) In General.--The Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget--
            (1) not later than June 30, 2018--
                    (A) shall prescribe initial guidance to implement 
                this Act, and the amendments made by this Act;
                    (B) shall issue initial guidance to agencies to 
                identify how the program activities used for reporting 
                under the Federal Funding Accountability and 
                Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) are 
                associated with programs identified in the program 
                inventory required under section 1122(a)(2)(C)(i) of 
                title 31, United States Code, as amended by section 2; 
                and
                    (C) may issue initial guidance to agencies to 
                ensure that the programs identified in the program 
                inventory required under section 1122(a)(2)(C)(i) of 
                title 31, United States Code, as amended by section 2, 
                are presented at a similar level of detail across 
                agencies and are not duplicative or overlapping; and
            (2) may, based on an analysis of the costs of 
        implementation, and after submitting to Congress a notification 
        of the action by the Director--
                    (A) extend the implementation deadline under 
                subsection (b)--
                            (i) in 1-year increments; and
                            (ii) by not more than a total of 2 years; 
                        and
                    (B) exempt from the requirements under section 
                1122(a) of title 31, United States Code, an agency 
                that--
                            (i) is not listed in section 901(b) of 
                        title 31, United States Code; and
                            (ii) for the fiscal year during which the 
                        exemption is made, has budget authority (as 
                        defined in section 3 of the Congressional 
                        Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622)) of not more 
                        than $10,000,000.
    (b) Implementation.--This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 
shall be implemented not later than June 30, 2019.
    (c) Reporting.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 5 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 
        States shall submit to Congress a report regarding the 
        implementation of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, 
        which shall--
                    (A) review how the Office of Management and Budget 
                and agencies determined what activities constitute a 
                program (as defined under section 1122 of title 31, 
                United States Code, as amended by this Act) and what 
                activities do not constitute a program;
                    (B) evaluate the extent to which the program 
                inventory required under section 1122 of title 31, 
                United States Code, as amended by this Act, provides 
                useful information for decisionmakers;
                    (C) evaluate the extent to which the program 
                inventory provides a coherent picture of the scope of 
                Federal involvement in particular areas; and
                    (D) include the recommendations of the Comptroller 
                General, if any, for improving implementation of this 
                Act and the amendments made by this Act.
            (2) Hearings.--After receipt of the report required under 
        paragraph (1), the Committee on Homeland Security and 
        Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
        Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives 
        shall hold hearings to review the findings of the report.
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