DATA Act Passes through the House

The bill, H.R. 2061 – The Data Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA), passed the House last night. This act will improve public access to federal finance data.

As the bill declares, its purpose is 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 programs of Federal agencies in order 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 accurately for taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov;

(3) analyze Federal spending data to proactively prevent waste, fraud, abuse, and improper payments;

(4) simplify reporting for entities receiving Federal funds by streamlining reporting requirements and reducing compliance costs while improving transparency; and

(5) improve the quality of data submitted to USASpending.gov by holding Federal agencies accountable for the completeness and accuracy of the data submitted.

You can see the bill and subscribe for updates at: https://scout.sunlightfoundation.com/item/bill/hr2061-113/digital-accountability-and-transparency-act-of-2013

Read more from the Sunlight Foundation: http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/11/19/house-keeps-data-act-momentum-moving/

More analysis to come.

• About
• Latest Posts

Alex Fink

Editor & Host at The OKCast

In addition to hosting the OKCast, I am a Ph.D. student in Youth Studies at the University of Minnesota. I study methods of making research to document injustice and resistance available to young people to create social change. My particular focus is on the political economy and ecology of data, including data collection, data use, data access/sharing, data economics, and the ideologies surrounding it.

Latest posts by Alex Fink (see all)

• Season #1 – Summer Break! - June 9, 2015
• Episode #24 – Open Ecology and Conservation with Shah Selbe - April 2, 2015
• Sensor Calibration and Certification with Puneet Kishor - April 2, 2015