Data Act sponsor wants a look at agency implementation plans

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has again asked federal agencies to share how they plan to implement his legislative baby, the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act.

Warner sent a letter on Sept. 14 asking agencies for their updated implementation plans. He had issued a similar letter in April.

As mandated in the act, the Treasury Department published standards for making budget data machine-readable on April 29, and the Office of Management and Budget released final implementation guidance on May 3.

In August, however, the Government Accountability Office raised questions about Treasury's and OMB's monitoring of Data Act implementation and said agencies had been slow to adopt the guidance.

In his latest letter, Warner said he has heard concerns about governmentwide guidance and the final technical plans from OMB and Treasury. He also raised concerns about "common challenges" for agencies in implementing the law, which include resource constraints and legacy financial management systems that could cost agencies more to update or support.

Warner co-sponsored the Data Act, which was signed into law two years ago.

He wrote in his Sept. 14 letter that "the Data Act presents both challenges and opportunities for your agency and when fully implemented will create transparency for federal funds, set governmentwide financial data standards, reduce reporting requirements of federal award recipients and improve overall data quality."

He said he "remains strongly committed to robust oversight of Data Act implementation."