Congress Passes DATA Act

Congress Passes DATA Act
Legislation mandating detailed reporting on federal spending passed in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support this past Monday. The bill is now headed to President Obama's desk to be signed into federal law.

The legislation, which was backed by the American Institute of CPAs, would build the necessary infrastructure to standardize and publish federal spending data, putting into law several key elements of President Obama's May 2013 Open Data Policy.

The DATA Act improves upon the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which then-Senator Obama sponsored in 2006, by mandating the adoption of consistent government-wide data standards. The legislation would use technology such as Extensible Business Reporting Language, or XBRL, in financial reporting on government spending, making it more open and accessible.

The bill would require each government program to disclose agency expenditures that enables taxpayers and policy makers to track Federal spending more efficiently.

Additionally, the DATA Act will establish government-wide data standards for financial data and provide consistent, reliable, and searchable spending data that is displayed accurately for taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov.  By making government spending information more easily accessible, the legislation will also increase stewardship to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse while enabling individuals to more easily access and understand how Federal tax dollars are being spent. 

For related information, visit: US Government Spending

Courtesy: MaSEA