Stimulus Data to be Delayed

The government will not release stimulus data from the private sector and states on Recovery.gov until Oct. 30, 20 days after spending reports are due, the board overseeing Recovery Act funds announced on Monday.

The statistics affected include reports from states and local governments, contractors, universities, nonprofits and other parties that have received a grant, loan or contract worth $25,000 or more.

Lawmakers and many in the public had pushed for immediate disclosure of all recipient data. But some stakeholders, including government accountability group OMB Watch, wanted the board to wait until the end of October to ensure financial figures are free of typos, such as extra zeros or transposed numbers.

Spending details associated with federal Recovery contracts will post by Oct. 15, board officials said. Data on grants, loans and other forms of aid will go online on Oct. 30. The information will include the amount of money the parties received and spent, the number of jobs created and the timetable of projects.

Earl Devaney, chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, stated in a press release that "this release schedule mitigates the board's concern that large amounts of uncorrected data could actually harm transparency rather than enhance it."

Meanwhile, an upgrade to Recovery.gov, the official stimulus-tracking Web site, will launch at the end of September to allow users time to experiment with the site's new features. Shortly after Nov. 1, citizens will be able to see all changes that the government and recipients made to the data during the time it was not public, from Oct. 11 through Oct. 29.