S 2852 ISCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To provide increased accessibility to information on Federal spending, and for other purposes.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

April 14, 2008

Mr. CORNYN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental AffairsCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To provide increased accessibility to information on Federal spending, and for other purposes.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Federal Spending and Taxpayer Accessibility Act of 2008'.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) Findings- Congress makes the following findings:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) Taxpayers deserve to know how their tax money is spent by the Federal Government.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) The Office of Management and Budget has developed a single, searchable Internet website of Government grants and contracts, accessible free of charge by the public.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) The Office of Management and Budget, through its Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) system, identified that almost 25 percent of Federal programs it reviewed either were ineffective or their effectiveness could not be determined.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) Billions of dollars are lost each year through fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement among the hundreds of programs in the Federal Government.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) Taxpayers work on average more than 2 months of every year to pay for the operations of the Federal Government.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Purposes- The purposes of this Act are--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) to bring more transparency to the spending habits of the Federal Government;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) to help taxpayers understand how the Federal Government spends the money they send to Washington, DC;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) to provide for better accountability in the Federal budget and appropriations process;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) to give taxpayers an easy and accessible way to see how their money is being spent; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) to increase the participation of citizens in their Government.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 3. EARMARK TRACKING WEBSITE.

(a) Internet Website-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than January 1, 2009, the Congressional Research Service shall create a single operational searchable Internet website, accessible free of charge by the public, that allows the user to search information on each Federal earmark, including--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) the name and location of the intended recipient of the earmark,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) the total dollar amount of the earmark,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) the Member of Congress who sponsored or requested the earmark, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(D) the status of the bill to which the earmark is attached.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) SCOPE OF DATA- The Internet website established under this subsection shall include data for fiscal years after fiscal year 2007.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) TIMELINESS OF INFORMATION- The Congressional Research Service shall update the Internet website established under this subsection as soon as any bill or report containing an earmark has been passed or reported by the Senate or the House of Representatives or any committee thereof.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Definitions-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) EARMARK- For purposes of this section, the term `earmark' means a congressionally directed spending item, a limited tax benefit, or a limited tariff benefit.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING ITEM- For purposes of this paragraph, the term `congressionally directed spending item' means a provision or report language included primarily at the request of a Member of Congress providing, authorizing, or recommending a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality or Congressional district, other than through a statutory or administrative formula-driven or competitive award process.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) LIMITED TAX BENEFIT- For purposes of this paragraph, the term `limited tax benefit' means any revenue provision that--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(i) provides a Federal tax deduction, credit, exclusion, or preference to a particular beneficiary or limited group of beneficiaries under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(ii) contains eligibility criteria that are not uniform in application with respect to potential beneficiaries of such provision.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) LIMITED TARIFF BENEFIT- For purposes of this paragraph, the term `limited tariff benefit' means a provision modifying the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States in a manner that benefits 10 or fewer entities.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) RECIPIENT- For purposes of this section, the term `recipient' means the entity designated to receive the earmark.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) SEARCHABLE INTERNET WEBSITE- For purposes of this section, the term `searchable Internet website' means an Internet website that allows members of the public--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) to search and aggregate Federal funding for any earmark passed or reported by the Senate or the House of Representatives or any committee thereof, as well as an overall total by any method required by subsection (a)(1);CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) to ascertain through a single search the total number and total dollar amount of earmarks provided to a single recipient;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(C) to ascertain through a single search the total number and total dollar amount of earmarks sponsored or requested by each United States Senator, Member of the House of Representatives, including Delegates and Resident Commissioners, and the President of the United States; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(D) to ascertain through a single search the total number and total dollar amount of earmarks and earmark recipients located in each State and territory of the United States.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(c) Notification of Delay- The Director of the Congressional Research Service shall, upon making a determination that the Internet website established under subsection (a)(1) will not be operational by January 1, 2009, immediately notify the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives of such determination and shall provide the reason for the delay.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(d) Reports-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than the date that is 1 year after the date on which the Internet website established under subsection (a)(1) becomes operational, the Director of the Congressional Research Service shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives a report on the implementation of such website, including data regarding the usage of and public feedback on the utility of the website and any recommendations for improving the presentation of the data.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) PUBLICATION- The Congressional Research Service shall make each report submitted under paragraph (1) publicly available on the Internet website established under subsection (a).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(e) Classified Information- Nothing in this section shall require the disclosure of classified information.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(f) Government Accountability Office Report- Not later than June 1, 2009, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on compliance with the requirements of this section.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 4. PROVIDING INFORMATION TO TAXPAYERS.

(a) Provision of Statement Upon Request- Beginning not later than October 1, 2009, the Secretary of the Treasury shall provide upon the request of an eligible individual a taxpayer account statement for such individual.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Taxpayer Account Statement- The taxpayer account statement required under subsection (a) shall include--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) the aggregate amount of individual Federal income tax paid by the eligible individual under chapter 1 of subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in all previous taxable years, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) an estimate of the aggregate amount of such income tax that such individual will have paid as of the projected date of the normal retirement of such individual.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(c) Eligible Individual- For purposes of this section, the term `eligible individual' means an individual who--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) has a valid social security number issued by the Social Security Administration.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) is age 25 or over,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) has filed a return of tax in any previous taxable year, andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) has had net income tax liability which is greater than zero in any previous taxable year.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(d) Notice- The Secretary of the Treasury shall, to the maximum extent practicable, take such steps as are necessary to assure that eligible individuals are informed of the availability of the statement required under subsection (a).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(e) Mandatory Provision of Initial Statements- By not later than September 30, 2014, the Secretary of the Treasury shall provide a taxpayer account statement to each eligible individual for whom a current mailing address can be determined. The Secretary shall provide with each such statement notice that an updated version of such statement is available annually upon request.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES.

(a) Additional Disclosure-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than January 1, 2010, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall include the financial outlays of all Federal agencies on the Internet website established by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) INTERNET WEBSITE- The information added to the Internet website under paragraph (1) shall--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) allow the user at least 2 different methods of searching and aggregating the financial outlays of all Federal agencies, including--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(i) searching by agency obligation and object class; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(ii) searching by budget function and subfunction; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) allow the user to download any data received as the product of a search.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Agency Responsibilities- All Federal agencies shall comply with instructions and guidance issued by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and shall provide appropriate assistance to the Director upon request in the addition to the Internet website of the information required under subsection (a).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(c) Scope of Data- The information added to the Internet website under subsection (a) shall include data for fiscal years after fiscal year 2008.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(d) Financial Outlay- For purposes of this section, the term `financial outlay' means any payment to liquidate an obligation (other than the repayment of debt principal) that is greater than $25,000.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(e) Notification of Delay- The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall, upon making a determination that the information required to be added to the Internet website under subsection (a) will not be complete by January 1, 2010, immediately notify the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives of such determination and shall provide the reason for the delay.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(f) Report-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than the date that is 6 months after the date on which the information required under subsection (a) has been added to the Internet website described in such subsection, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform of the House of Representatives a report on the addition of the information added under subsection (a), including data regarding the usage of and public feedback on the utility of the Internet website and any recommendations for improving data quality and collection.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) PUBLICATION- The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall make the report submitted under paragraph (1) publicly available on the Internet website established by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(g) Classified Information- Nothing in this section shall require the disclosure of classified information.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(h) Government Accountability Office Report- Not later than January 1, 2011, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report on compliance with the requirements of this section.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink