On May 9th, federal agencies will officially begin reporting data in compliance with the open standards created under the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, the landmark legislation that cleared Congress in 2014.
Continue readingStakeholder perspectives heard at DATA Act town hall
Last Friday, the Sunlight Foundation participated in a "data transparency town hall" hosted by the Treasury Department to hear from stakeholders on DATA Act implementation. Our comments are posted here.
Continue readingGAO confirms USASpending data quality problems
A GAO report on the subpar spending data available at USASpending.gov confirms the findings of Sunlight's Clearspending project — and highlights the need for spending data standards.
Continue readingThe DATA Act and Beyond: An Event Exploring Government Spending Transparency
We are excited to announce "Government Spending Transparency: The Data Act and Beyond," which will take place on Monday, December 16, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 2203 of the Rayburn House Office Building. You can RSVP here.
Continue readingHouse keeps DATA Act momentum moving
Last night the House took an important bipartisan step towards greater government transparency by passing the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, H.R. 2061 (DATA Act) on a near unanimous vote.
The DATA Act will significantly improve the transparency of federal spending data, as well as make it easier to use, by instituting strong, government-wide financial data standards. It will also ensure that more, and more accurate, data is made publicly available.
Senate Committee Marks Up DATA Act, Clearing Way For Further Action
Yesterday morning, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs considered and passed the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) on a voice vote. The original legislation, introduced by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Mark Warner (D-VA), was replaced by an amendment in the nature of a substitute co-introduced by a number of committee members, including Senator Portman, and passed unanimously.
The amended legislation retains the soul of the original bill, which aims to standardize and open federal spending data, while making some concerning changes. Specifically, the Senate's new version scraps strong accountability mechanisms in an effort to keep costs down and fails to solve some governance problems that have long limited accurate federal spending data.
As DATA Act Markup Looms In Senate, Groups Announce Support For Introduced Version
Today, a coalition of groups and individuals concerned with open government urged the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental... View Article
Continue readingA Sunshine Week Call for Greater Transparency
As part of Sunshine week, I had the opportunity to testify at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing to share a few of Sunlight's ideas about making the executive branch more transparent. Video and text of my opening statement are below. It almost goes without saying that we're very interested in the transparency bills the Oversight Committee will be marking up this Wednesday.
Only Congressional Pressure Can Drive Real Federal Spending Transparency Reforms
In a speech Wednesday, OMB controller Danny Werfel reportedly declared that improving the completeness and reliability of data on the... View Article
Continue readingThree Ideas to Open the Executive Branch
Tonight, President Obama will deliver the State of the Union Address to Congress. He is expected to urge the Legislative branch to take action on guns, immigration, climate change and a laundry list of other issues. In order to make progress on the major questions of the day, the President will have to negotiate and compromise with Congress. But, that doesn't mean he can't make progress through other means. A few weeks ago, the Advisory Committee on Transparency heard three ideas that President Obama could consider implementing right away to make the Executive branch more open and transparent. Read on for the videos.
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