DATA Act

Bill: 113-s-994
Sponsor: Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]
Introduced: 2013-05-21 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Appropriations
Budget process
Computers and information technology
Congressional oversight
Department of the Treasury
Disaster relief and insurance
Executive agency funding and structure
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Performance measurement
Poverty and welfare assistance
Public contracts and procurement

Summary:
action_date: 2013-05-21
text: 
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013 - Amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to:
 
 
 transfer from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to the Secretary of the Treasury the responsibility for maintaining the website established by such Act (i.e., USAspending.gov) to provide public information about awards of federal funds;
 
require spending data for all federal funds to indicate the appropriation, federal agency, sub-agency, account, program activity, and object class (the category assigned for purposes of the annual budget of the President to the type of property or services purchased by the federal government) for such funds; 
 
require the Secretary to establish government-wide financial data standards for federal funds and to use data collected under this Act to detect, prevent, and recover improper payments;
 
require the Director of OMB to review the financial reporting required by federal agencies to reduce duplicative reporting; 
 
require the Inspectors General at each federal agency and the Comptroller General to report biennially on the completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of spending data submitted by each agency; 
 
require the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (Board) to develop and test information technology resources and oversight mechanisms to enhance the transparency of, and detect and remediate waste, fraud, and abuse in, federal spending for Inspectors General; and 
 
require the Board to maintain a website to inform the public about activities to identify waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending.
 
 
Requires the Board to establish a pilot program relating to reporting by recipients of federal funds to increase financial transparency to: (1) display the full cycle of federal funds, (2) improve the accuracy of federal financial data, and (3) develop recommendations for reducing reporting requirements by consolidating and automating financial reporting requirements across the federal government.
 
Amends the Social Security Act to revise the purposes for information in the National Directory of New Hires to include assisting the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the prevention, identification, and recovery of improper payments to persons under review to determine their eligibility to receive payments or to participate in a federal, state, or local government program.
 
Amends the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to terminate on September 30, 2013, reporting requirements relating to the use of funds under such Act, oversight functions of the Board, and the requirement that the Board maintain a public website. Extends the termination date for the Board until September 30, 2017. Amends the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 to eliminate the Board's responsibility for monitoring the expenditure of funds related to Hurricane Sandy. 
 
Requires the Director of OMB to make required financial management status reports and government-wide five-year financial management plans available on the OMB website.

action_date: 2014-03-27
text: 
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013 or the DATA Act - (Sec. 2) States as the purposes of this Act 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 federal programs 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 on USASpending.gov; (3) simplify reporting for entities receiving federal funds by streamlining reporting requirements and reducing compliance costs while improving transparency; and (4) 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) Amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to define &quot;federal agency,&quot; for purposes of such Act, to mean an executive department, a government corporation, or an independent establishment.
 
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, not later than three years after the enactment of this Act and every month thereafter, to ensure that information relating to the budget authority of each federal agency, including the amounts of outlays, funds reprogrammed or transferred, and expired and unobligated balances, be posted online.
 
 Directs the Secretary to establish government-wide financial data standards for federal funds. Requires such data standards, to the extent reasonable and practicable, to: (1) incorporate widely accepted common data elements and a widely accepted, nonproprietary, searchable, platform-independent, computer-readable format; (2) include government-wide universal identifiers for federal awards and entities; (3) be consistent with and implement applicable accounting principles; (4) be capable of being continually updated; (5) produce consistent and comparable data; and (6) establish a standard method of conveying the reporting period, reporting entity, unit of measure, and other associated attributes.
 
Requires: (1) the Secretary, not later than one year after enactment of this Act, to issue guidance to federal agencies on such data standards; (2) federal agencies to collect, report, and maintain financial and payment information data in accordance with such data standards; and (3) such data standards to be applied to data available to the website providing information on the budget authority of federal agencies. 
 
Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to review the information required to be reported by recipients of federal awards to identify: (1) common reporting elements across the federal government, (2) unnecessary duplication in financial reporting, and (3) unnecessarily burdensome reporting requirements for recipients of federal awards. 
 
Requires the OMB Director, not later than one year after the enactment of this Act, to establish a two-year pilot program to develop recommendations for: (1) common reporting elements across the federal government, (2) the elimination of unnecessary duplication in financial reporting, and (3) the reduction of compliance costs for recipients of federal awards. Requires such pilot program to include: (1) a combination of federal contracts, grants, and subawards, with an aggregate value of not less than $1 billion; (2) a diverse group of recipients of federal awards; (3) recipients who receive awards from multiple programs across multiple agencies; and (4) data collected during a 12-month reporting cycle. 
 
Requires the OMB Director, within 90 days after the termination of the pilot program, to submit a report to the House Committees on the Budget and Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committees on the Budget and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that includes: (1) a description of the data collected under the pilot program, its usefulness, and the cost to collect the data from other recipients; and (2) recommendations. 
 
Directs the Inspector General of each federal agency to: (1) review a statistically valid sampling of the spending data submitted under this Act by the federal agency, and (2) submit to Congress and make publicly available a report assessing the completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data sampled and the implementation and use of data standards by the federal agency. 
 
Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to submit a publicly available report to Congress assessing and comparing the data completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data submitted under this Act by federal agencies and the implementation and use of data standards by federal agencies. 
 
 Declares that nothing in this Act shall require disclosure to the public of: (1) information protected from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), or (2) information protected under the Privacy Act of 1974 or the Internal Revenue Code. 
 
(Sec. 4) Requires the OMB Director to make available on the OMB website a report on the implementation of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.
 
(Sec. 5) Authorizes the Secretary to use amounts in the Department of the Treasury Franchise Fund to carry out this Act. 

action_date: 2014-04-10
text: 
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 or the DATA Act - (Sec. 2) States as the purposes of this Act to: 
 
 
 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 federal programs to enable taxpayers and policy makers to track federal spending more effectively;
 
 establish government-wide data standards for financial data and provide consistent, reliable, and searchable government-wide spending data that is displayed accurately for taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov;
 
 simplify reporting for entities receiving federal funds by streamlining reporting requirements and reducing compliance costs while improving transparency; 
 
 improve the quality of data submitted to USASpending.gov by holding federal agencies accountable for the completeness and accuracy of the data submitted; and 
 
 apply approaches developed by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to spending across the federal government. 
 
 
(Sec. 3) Amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to define "federal agency," for purposes of such Act, to mean an executive department, a government corporation, or an independent establishment.
 
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, not later than three years after the enactment of this Act and monthly, when practicable, but not less than quarterly thereafter, to ensure that information on funds made available to or expended by a federal agency is posted online, in a searchable, downloadable format. 
 
Directs the Secretary and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish government-wide financial data standards for federal funds and entities receiving such funds. Requires such data standards, to the extent reasonable and practicable, to: (1) incorporate widely-accepted common data elements and a widely-accepted, nonproprietary, searchable, platform-independent, computer-readable format; (2) include government-wide universal identifiers for federal awards and entities; (3) be consistent with and implement applicable accounting principles; (4) be capable of being continually updated; (5) produce consistent and comparable data; and (6) establish a standard method of conveying the reporting period, reporting entity, unit of measure, and other associated attributes. 
 
Requires the Secretary and the Director to issue guidance to federal agencies on such data standards and consult with public and private stakeholders in establishing such standards. 
 
Requires the Director to review the information required to be reported by recipients of federal awards to identify: (1) common reporting elements across the federal government, (2) unnecessary duplication in financial reporting, and (3) unnecessarily burdensome reporting requirements for recipients of federal awards. 
 
Requires the Director to establish a two-year pilot program to develop recommendations for: (1) standardized reporting elements across the federal government, (2) the elimination of unnecessary duplication in financial reporting, and (3) the reduction of compliance costs for recipients of federal awards. Requires such pilot program to include: (1) a combination of federal contracts, grants, and subawards, with an aggregate value of not less than $1 billion and not more than $2 billion; (2) a diverse group of recipients of federal awards; (3) recipients who receive awards from multiple programs across multiple agencies; and (4) data collected during a 12-month reporting cycle. 
 
Requires the Director, not later than 90 days after the termination of the pilot program, to submit a report to the House Committees on the Budget and Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committees on the Budget and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that includes: (1) a description of the data collected under the pilot program, its usefulness, and the cost to collect the data from other recipients; and (2) recommendations. 
 
Directs the Inspector General of each federal agency to: (1) review a statistically valid sampling of the spending data submitted under this Act by the federal agency; and (2) submit to Congress and make publicly available a report assessing the completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data sampled and the implementation and use of data standards by the federal agency. 
 
Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to submit a publicly available report to Congress assessing and comparing the data completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data submitted under this Act by federal agencies and the implementation and use of data standards by federal agencies. 
 
Authorizes the Secretary to establish a data analysis center, or expand an existing service, to provide data, analytic tools, and data management techniques to support: (1) the prevention and reduction of improper payments, and (2) the improvement of efficiency and transparency in federal spending. Transfers assets of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to the Department of the Treasury upon the establishment of the data analysis center.
 
Declares that nothing in this Act: (1) shall require disclosure to the public of information protected from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or information protected under the Privacy Act of 1974 or the Internal Revenue Code; and (2) shall be construed to create a private right of action.
 
(Sec. 4) Requires the OMB Director to make available on the OMB website a financial management status report and government-wide five-year financial management plan.
 
(Sec. 5) Requires a federal agency to notify the Secretary of the Treasury of any legally enforceable non-tax debt owed to such agency that is over 120 (currently, 180) days delinquent so that the Secretary can offset such debt administratively. Requires the Secretary to notify Congress of any instance in which an agency fails to notify the Secretary of such a debt.

action_date: 2014-04-28
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on April 10, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

 
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 or the DATA Act - (Sec. 2) States as the purposes of this Act to: 
 
 
 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 federal programs to enable taxpayers and policy makers to track federal spending more effectively;
 
 establish government-wide data standards for financial data and provide consistent, reliable, and searchable government-wide spending data that is displayed accurately for taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov;
 
 simplify reporting for entities receiving federal funds by streamlining reporting requirements and reducing compliance costs while improving transparency; 
 
 improve the quality of data submitted to USASpending.gov by holding federal agencies accountable for the completeness and accuracy of the data submitted; and 
 
 apply approaches developed by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to spending across the federal government. 
 
 
(Sec. 3) Amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to define "federal agency," for purposes of such Act, to mean an executive department, a government corporation, or an independent establishment.
 
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, not later than three years after the enactment of this Act and monthly, when practicable, but not less than quarterly thereafter, to ensure that information on funds made available to or expended by a federal agency is posted online, in a searchable, downloadable format. 
 
Directs the Secretary and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish government-wide financial data standards for federal funds and entities receiving such funds. Requires such data standards, to the extent reasonable and practicable, to: (1) incorporate widely-accepted common data elements and a widely-accepted, nonproprietary, searchable, platform-independent, computer-readable format; (2) include government-wide universal identifiers for federal awards and entities; (3) be consistent with and implement applicable accounting principles; (4) be capable of being continually updated; (5) produce consistent and comparable data; and (6) establish a standard method of conveying the reporting period, reporting entity, unit of measure, and other associated attributes. 
 
Requires the Secretary and the Director to issue guidance to federal agencies on such data standards and consult with public and private stakeholders in establishing such standards. 
 
Requires the Director to review the information required to be reported by recipients of federal awards to identify: (1) common reporting elements across the federal government, (2) unnecessary duplication in financial reporting, and (3) unnecessarily burdensome reporting requirements for recipients of federal awards. 
 
Requires the Director to establish a two-year pilot program to develop recommendations for: (1) standardized reporting elements across the federal government, (2) the elimination of unnecessary duplication in financial reporting, and (3) the reduction of compliance costs for recipients of federal awards. Requires such pilot program to include: (1) a combination of federal contracts, grants, and subawards, with an aggregate value of not less than $1 billion and not more than $2 billion; (2) a diverse group of recipients of federal awards; (3) recipients who receive awards from multiple programs across multiple agencies; and (4) data collected during a 12-month reporting cycle. 
 
Requires the Director, not later than 90 days after the termination of the pilot program, to submit a report to the House Committees on the Budget and Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committees on the Budget and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that includes: (1) a description of the data collected under the pilot program, its usefulness, and the cost to collect the data from other recipients; and (2) recommendations. 
 
Directs the Inspector General of each federal agency to: (1) review a statistically valid sampling of the spending data submitted under this Act by the federal agency; and (2) submit to Congress and make publicly available a report assessing the completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data sampled and the implementation and use of data standards by the federal agency. 
 
Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to submit a publicly available report to Congress assessing and comparing the data completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data submitted under this Act by federal agencies and the implementation and use of data standards by federal agencies. 
 
Authorizes the Secretary to establish a data analysis center, or expand an existing service, to provide data, analytic tools, and data management techniques to support: (1) the prevention and reduction of improper payments, and (2) the improvement of efficiency and transparency in federal spending. Transfers assets of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to the Department of the Treasury upon the establishment of the data analysis center.
 
Declares that nothing in this Act: (1) shall require disclosure to the public of information protected from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or information protected under the Privacy Act of 1974 or the Internal Revenue Code; and (2) shall be construed to create a private right of action.
 
(Sec. 4) Requires the OMB Director to make available on the OMB website a financial management status report and government-wide five-year financial management plan.
 
(Sec. 5) Requires a federal agency to notify the Secretary of the Treasury of any legally enforceable non-tax debt owed to such agency that is over 120 (currently, 180) days delinquent so that the Secretary can offset such debt administratively. Requires the Secretary to notify Congress of any instance in which an agency fails to notify the Secretary of such a debt.

action_date: 2014-05-09
text: 

(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on April 10, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

 
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 or the DATA Act - (Sec. 2) States as the purposes of this Act to: 
 
 
 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 federal programs to enable taxpayers and policy makers to track federal spending more effectively;
 
 establish government-wide data standards for financial data and provide consistent, reliable, and searchable government-wide spending data that is displayed accurately for taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov;
 
 simplify reporting for entities receiving federal funds by streamlining reporting requirements and reducing compliance costs while improving transparency; 
 
 improve the quality of data submitted to USASpending.gov by holding federal agencies accountable for the completeness and accuracy of the data submitted; and 
 
 apply approaches developed by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to spending across the federal government. 
 
 
(Sec. 3) Amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to define "federal agency," for purposes of such Act, to mean an executive department, a government corporation, or an independent establishment.
 
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, not later than three years after the enactment of this Act and monthly, when practicable, but not less than quarterly thereafter, to ensure that information on funds made available to or expended by a federal agency is posted online, in a searchable, downloadable format. 
 
Directs the Secretary and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish government-wide financial data standards for federal funds and entities receiving such funds. Requires such data standards, to the extent reasonable and practicable, to: (1) incorporate widely-accepted common data elements and a widely-accepted, nonproprietary, searchable, platform-independent, computer-readable format; (2) include government-wide universal identifiers for federal awards and entities; (3) be consistent with and implement applicable accounting principles; (4) be capable of being continually updated; (5) produce consistent and comparable data; and (6) establish a standard method of conveying the reporting period, reporting entity, unit of measure, and other associated attributes. 
 
Requires the Secretary and the Director to issue guidance to federal agencies on such data standards and consult with public and private stakeholders in establishing such standards. 
 
Requires the Director to review the information required to be reported by recipients of federal awards to identify: (1) common reporting elements across the federal government, (2) unnecessary duplication in financial reporting, and (3) unnecessarily burdensome reporting requirements for recipients of federal awards. 
 
Requires the Director to establish a two-year pilot program to develop recommendations for: (1) standardized reporting elements across the federal government, (2) the elimination of unnecessary duplication in financial reporting, and (3) the reduction of compliance costs for recipients of federal awards. Requires such pilot program to include: (1) a combination of federal contracts, grants, and subawards, with an aggregate value of not less than $1 billion and not more than $2 billion; (2) a diverse group of recipients of federal awards; (3) recipients who receive awards from multiple programs across multiple agencies; and (4) data collected during a 12-month reporting cycle. 
 
Requires the Director, not later than 90 days after the termination of the pilot program, to submit a report to the House Committees on the Budget and Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committees on the Budget and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that includes: (1) a description of the data collected under the pilot program, its usefulness, and the cost to collect the data from other recipients; and (2) recommendations. 
 
Directs the Inspector General of each federal agency to: (1) review a statistically valid sampling of the spending data submitted under this Act by the federal agency; and (2) submit to Congress and make publicly available a report assessing the completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data sampled and the implementation and use of data standards by the federal agency. 
 
Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to submit a publicly available report to Congress assessing and comparing the data completeness, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of the data submitted under this Act by federal agencies and the implementation and use of data standards by federal agencies. 
 
Authorizes the Secretary to establish a data analysis center, or expand an existing service, to provide data, analytic tools, and data management techniques to support: (1) the prevention and reduction of improper payments, and (2) the improvement of efficiency and transparency in federal spending. Transfers assets of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to the Department of the Treasury upon the establishment of the data analysis center.
 
Declares that nothing in this Act: (1) shall require disclosure to the public of information protected from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or information protected under the Privacy Act of 1974 or the Internal Revenue Code; and (2) shall be construed to create a private right of action.
 
(Sec. 4) Requires the OMB Director to make available on the OMB website a financial management status report and government-wide five-year financial management plan.
 
(Sec. 5) Requires a federal agency to notify the Secretary of the Treasury of any legally enforceable non-tax debt owed to such agency that is over 120 (currently, 180) days delinquent so that the Secretary can offset such debt administratively. Requires the Secretary to notify Congress of any instance in which an agency fails to notify the Secretary of such a debt.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-05-09
text: Became Public Law No: 113-101.
action_date: 2014-05-09
text: Became Public Law No: 113-101.
action_date: 2014-05-09
text: Signed by President.
action_date: 2014-05-09
text: Signed by President.
action_date: 2014-04-30
text: Presented to President.
action_date: 2014-04-30
text: Presented to President.
action_date: 2014-04-28
text: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3203-3205)
action_date: 2014-04-28
text: Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H3203-3205)
action_date: 2014-04-28
text: DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on S. 994.
action_date: 2014-04-28
text: Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H3203-3207)
action_date: 2014-04-28
text: Mr. Issa moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
action_date: 2014-04-28
text: Held at the desk.
action_date: 2014-04-28
text: Received in the House.
action_date: 2014-04-10
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2014-04-10
text: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text: CR S2359-2361)
action_date: 2014-04-10
text: Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.(text: CR S2359-2361)
action_date: 2014-04-10
text: The committee substitute was withdrawn by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2014-04-10
text: Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S2359-2362)
action_date: 2014-03-27
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 337.
action_date: 2014-03-27
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Carper with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 113-139.
action_date: 2014-03-27
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Carper with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 113-139.
action_date: 2013-11-06
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2013-05-21
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2013-05-21
text: Introduced in Senate

Enacted as: number: 113-101