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an effort to create searchable online databases for government expenditures
a tool to highlight the hypocrisy of tax hikers
Constitutional or statutory requirement to rein in growth of revenues end expenditures
a commitment made by elected officials and candidates for elected office never to raise taxes
Raising the bar for tax increases
Requiring a cool-off period for all bills with a fiscal impact
pork-barrel spending - the broken windows of the budget
Federal Efforts to Increase Fiscal Accountability
The passage of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which resulted in the creation of www.USAspending.gov, a searchable online database for all federal grants and contracts over the amount of $25,000, was undoubtedly one of the biggest breakthroughs in the area of fiscal accountability at the federal level in recent years.
Other efforts to increase fiscal accountability are underway.
The Federal Funding Accountability Act of 2006 and Related Efforts
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 was the result of an unusual bi-partisan effort which had one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla), and one of the most liberal members, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) join forces.
It resulted in the creation of www.USAspending.gov, which launched on December 13, 2007, and provides taxpayers with a tool to get comprehensive information on all federal grants and contracts over the amount of $25,000. Legislation to improve the website, the Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Government Spending Act was introduced in June 2008. The Center for Fiscal Accountability supports the legislation and recommends further changes.
For more information, click here.
Executive Efforts
Results.gov
Each year, federal agencies are evaluated based on several criteria: human capital, competitive sourcing, financial performance, E-governance, and budget/performance integration. A score for each area is assigned (red, yellow, or green). For scores in transition, momentum is tracked. Several agencies have gone to “full green.”
www.results.gov
ExpectMore.gov.
This evaluates each spending program of the federal government. A 25-question Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) test is administered. Programs are rated as effective, moderately effective, adequate, ineffective, or results not demonstrated. To date, less than half of the 977 programs tested scored out as effective or moderately effective, demonstrating areas to cut waste, fraud, and abuse. www.expectmore.gov
Earmarks.OMB.gov.
In 2007, the Office of Management and Budget announced that they would make available a public, searchable database of “earmarks” (funds provided by the Congress for projects or programs where the congressional direction--in bill or report language-- circumvents the merit-based or competitive allocation process, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the Executive Branch to properly allocate funds). Through this greater transparency and sunshine, the goal was to cut the number of earmarks in half.
http://earmarks.omb.gov
Federal Real Property Database.
Based on a presidential executive order from 2004, OMB’s Office of Federal Financial Management is compiling a comprehensive database of all real property owned by the federal government. Incredibly, no one agency knows how much property the government owns.
Regulations.gov
The federal government's database of federal regulations. The site allows taxpayers to search for regulations and comment on documents that are open to public comment.
Regulations.gov
Third Party Efforts
FedSpending.org is a project of OMB Watch. The website allows users to search, aggregate and track over $18.7 trillion in federal spending dating back to FY 2000. The software for FedSpending.org was also the software OMB used to build USAspending.gov
Federal Employee Salary Database (2007)
This database was created by the Asbury Park Press, a New Jersey newspaper, using Freedom of Information R. The database allows you to enter a name, or select an agency, job title or location to begin your search. Not all fields need to be filled out. The results will show the adjusted base salary and any merit award from federal fiscal year 2007. On the results page, you may click on a column heading to sort the results.
Employees involved in security work, the FBI, CIA, Defense Department, nuclear materials, IRS, and jobs essential to national security are excluded. The list contains most executive branch employees but does not cover the White House, Congress, the Postal Service, and independent agencies and commissions.
Recognizing the seemingly endless amount of federal regulations that effect Americans everyday, OpenRegs.com was launched to help citizens understand and follow the development of federal regulations. The site is an interactive enterprise and allows visitors to search by and subscribe to regulations, agencies and topics.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Oversight
The passage of the unprecedented "stimulus" act prompted serious concerns about the transparency of the administration of the $787 billion in taxpayers' money allocated in the bill. In response, the Obama Administration launched recovery.gov to provide taxpayers with a portal to research where their money was being used. The site allows taxpayers to search spending by agency, state, recipient or category of spending. Though incomplete, recovery.gov is the government's resource for information on "stimulus" spending.
Looking to provide more comprehensive data on spending under the American Recovery and Reinvesetment Act, Onvia, a consulting firm, launched Recovery.org to provide close to real-time data on spending projects available and thus maximize the possible contractors who could access the information and enter a bid for the job. The site lists "stimulus" projects that are scheduled to take place and provides information on the categorical allocation of funds in each individual state.
Recognizing the government's inability to provide comprehensive transparency of its own financial transactions, StimulusWatch.Org allows citizens on the groud to assess the necessity and success of proposed "shovel-ready" projects. The site takes a unique approach by engaging taxpayers while providing oversight of projects before and after they have been completed. The portal allows visitors to search for project proposals by keyword, program type or city/state.
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