DATA Transparency for Federal Agencies

The Senate has unanimously passed Sen. Mark Warner's (D., VA) DATA (Digital Accountability and Transparency Act) of 2014, and the bill now travels to the House for consideration. The measure is landmark data transparency bill that would allow citizens to track money spent by federal agencies on usaspending.gov. 

A partial press release by Senator Warner is provided below the jump. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Senate Unanimously Passes Warner-Portman Transparency Legislation

~ Bipartisan DATA Act allows taxpayers to track every dollar spent by federal agencies ~ ~ ‘Most significant transparency legislation since Freedom of Information Act' ~

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate today passed Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) and Sen. Rob Portman’s (R-OH) bipartisan Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA). This landmark transparency legislation will allow taxpayers to track every dollar spent by federal agencies on a common website, and help lawmakers more easily identify fraud, waste and abuse to create a more efficient government. The DATA Act expands the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) to standardize and fully disclose federal agency expenditures, and it incorporates steps to simplify financial reporting and improve the quality of spending data. Passage of a House version of the DATA Act is expected shortly after the upcoming two-week congressional recess. 

“Our taxpayers deserve to know how their federal funds are spent – dollar for dollar – and it is our obligation to share that information in a clear and direct way. Today, the Senate passed this important bipartisan legislation to make sure taxpayers get the transparency they are entitled to,” Sen. Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee’s Government Performance Task Force said. “The DATA Act will improve the way the federal government does business and it’s a true example of how Washington is supposed to work – across the aisle and on both sides of the Capitol.”

“During a time of record $17 trillion debt, our bipartisan bill will help identify and eliminate wasteful spending by better tracking federal spending. I am pleased that our bill to improve federal financial transparency and empower taxpayers to see how their money is spent has passed the Senate, and I urge swift passage in the House of Representatives,”  Sen. Portman said.

A coalition of more than 25 nonpartisan government accountability organizations have endorsed the DATA Act, and it is regarded by some as the most significant open-government legislation since the Freedom of Information Act in 1966. ...