Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act

Bill: 113-s-2113
Sponsor: Sen. Coburn, Tom [R-OK]
Introduced: 2014-03-12 in the Senate
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Census and government statistics
Congressional oversight
Executive agency funding and structure
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Performance measurement

Summary:
action_date: 2014-03-12
text: 
Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act - Sets forth additional information relating to a federal program that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is required to include on its website and update at least annually, including: (1) the total administrative expenses of the program and the expenditures for services for the program for the previous fiscal year; (2) an estimate of the number of clients served by the program and beneficiaries who received assistance under the program for the previous fiscal year; (3) an estimate, for the previous fiscal year, of the number of full-time federal employees who administer the program and the number of full-time employees whose salary is paid in part or full by the federal government through a grant or contract or other form of financial assistance; (4) an identification of the specific statute that authorizes the program and whether such authorization is expired; (5) any finding of duplication or overlap; and (6) any program performance reviews for such program. 
 
Amends the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 to require the Comptroller General (GAO) to maintain and provide regular annual updates to a publicly available website that tracks the status of agency responses to recommendations by the Comptroller General for identifying duplicative government programs. 
 
Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to require the disclosure of classified information. 

action_date: 2014-08-26
text: 
Taxpayer Right-to-Know Act - (Sec. 2) Defines "program" for purposes of this Act as an organized set of activities by one or more agencies directed toward a common purpose or goal. 
 
Requires that the website of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) include a program inventory that identifies each program of the federal government, which shall include: (1) any activity that is commonly referred to as a program; (2) any activity specifically created by law, or referenced in law, as a program; (3) each program that has an application process; (4) each program for which financial awards are made on a competitive basis; and (5) any activity identified as a program activity in a budget request. 
 
Requires, for each program identified in such program inventory: (1) an identification of the specific statute that authorizes the program and any program regulations; (2) an estimate of the number of individuals served by any program that provides grants or financial assistance and the beneficiaries who received financial assistance under the program; (3) an estimate of the number of full-time employees who administer the program and the number of such employees whose salary is paid, in full or part, by the federal government; (4) links to any evaluation, assessment, or program performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector General, or the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released during the preceding five years; and (5) financial information for each program required to be reported under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.
 
Requires the OMB Director to issue guidance to assist agencies in identifying how the program activities used in budget or appropriations accounts correspond with programs identified in the program inventory required by this Act. Authorizes the Director to issue guidance to agencies on how to more closely align programs in the program inventory for purposes of the President's annual budget submission to Congress. 
 
(Sec. 3) Requires: (1) the OMB Director, not later than 120 days after the enactment of this Act, to prescribe regulations or other guidance to implement this Act; and (2) the implementation of this Act not later than 1 year after its enactment.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2014-08-26
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 531.
action_date: 2014-08-26
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Carper under authority of the order of the Senate of 08/05/2014 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 113-243.
action_date: 2014-08-26
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Carper under authority of the order of the Senate of 08/05/2014 with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 113-243.
action_date: 2014-05-21
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2014-03-12
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2014-03-12
text: Introduced in Senate