Warner introduces Senate version of spending tracking bill
Legislation sponsored by Virginia Democrat Mark Warner to set up a single Web-based platform to track federal spending is the Senate companion to a bill introduced by Rep. Darell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) introduced legislation June 16 to establish a single Web-based platform to track federal spending.
The legislation, the Data Accountability and Transparency Act, is the Senate companion to a bill introduced earlier this month by Rep. Darell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The bill would incorporate elements of the Office of Management and Budget’s USASpending.gov website and the stimulus law spending tracking website Recovery.gov into a new online database. It would also set standards for reporting spending data -- including grants, contracts, loans and internal expenses -- by agencies and recipients.
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“Standardizing the way this information is reported, and then centralizing the way it’s publicly disclosed, will make it a lot easier to identify needless duplication and inefficiency and help us spot and prevent waste and fraud,” Warner said. “By working together in a bipartisan way, we will create a powerful new tool that further empowers taxpayers and policy-makers and changes the way the federal government does business.”
In addition, the bill would direct a new panel called the Federal Accountability and Spending Transparency Board to come up with consistent reporting standards for all federally collected data.