Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act

Bill: 114-s-282
Sponsor: Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK]
Introduced: 2015-01-28 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: 2015-01-28
text: 

Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act
 
 
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, 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. 
 
Requires the OMB Director to: (1) publish on the OMB website the total amount of undisbursed grant funding remaining in grant accounts with expired availability, and (2) prescribe regulations or other guidance to implement this Act.

action_date: 2015-06-24
text: 

Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act 

 
(Sec. 2) Revises requirements for providing information about federal programs to increase taxpayer understanding of the cost and performance of such programs. Defines &quot;program,&quot; for purposes of this Act, as an organized set of activities by one or more agencies directed toward a common purpose or goal. 
 
Requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to include on its website a program inventory that identifies each program of the federal government for which there is more than $1 million in annual budget authority, which shall include: (1) 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; (2) 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 (3) any activity specifically referenced in law as a program after June 30, 2018.
 
Requires, for each program identified in such inventory: 
 
 
 an identification of the program activities that are aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated as part of identifying programs;
 
 the amount of funding for program activities for the current fiscal year and previous two fiscal years;
 
 to the maximum extent practicable, the amount of funding for each program using the pro rata share of the program activities that are aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated as part of identifying programs;
 
 an identification of the statutes that authorize the program and any major regulations specific to the program;
 
 a description and estimate of the number of individuals served by a program and beneficiaries who received financial assistance under a program; 
 
 a description of the federal employees who administer the program and 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;
 
 links to any evaluation, assessment, or program performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector General, or the Government Accountability Office released during the preceding five years; and 
 
 financial information for each program required to be reported under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.
 
 
Requires OMB: (1) after the end of each fiscal year, to archive and preserve the information included in the program inventory relating to that fiscal year; and (2) not later than February 1 of each fiscal year, to publish on a public website the total amount of undisbursed grant funding remaining in grant accounts for which the period of availability to the grantee has expired. 
 
(Sec. 3) Requires OMB, not later than June 30, 2017, to: (1) prescribe guidance for implementing this Act, and (2) 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 OMB: (1) to issue guidance to agencies on how to more closely align programs in the program inventory for purposes of the budget submission of the President to Congress, and (2) after providing notification to Congress, to exempt from the requirements of this Act agencies that are not required to have a chief financial officer and that have less than $10 million in budget authority.
 
Requires the amendments made by this Act to be implemented not later than June 30, 2018, but allows OMB to extend such deadline by not more than one year based on an analysis of the costs of implementation.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-24
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 127.
action_date: 2015-06-24
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-71.
action_date: 2015-06-24
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-71.
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
action_date: 2015-01-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
action_date: 2015-01-28
text: Introduced in Senate