From OpenCongress Wiki

Latest revision as of 18:22, November 30, 2011

Introduction

For years the House has published quarterly statements and Senate has published semiannual statements that report internal statements. Only recently have the House statements been made available online, albeit in an abbreviated format, and the Senate reports are expected to be published online in 2011. The following provides background and resources regarding these publications.

House Statement of Disbursements

Primary Sources for Disbursements

• House of Representatives website -- PDF format: http://disbursements.house.gov/
• Sunlight Foundation's website -- spreadsheet format: http://sunlightfoundation.com/projects/expenditures/
• Government Printing Office -- hardcopy available for purchase from GPO, entitled "Statement of Disbursements of the House, From January 1, 2010 to March 31, 2010" (House Document 111-102)

Authorization from the Speaker of the House of Representatives

The rules regarding the publication of House and Senate Expenditure reports is detailed in 2 USC 104a. (link)

Related News Stories

• "House Office Expenditures Finally Go Online", Wall Street Journal (11/30/2009)
  
• "House's New Financial Reports Drop Data", Roll Call (12/2/2009)
  

Senate Statement of Receipts and Expenditures

Primary Sources for Statement of Receipts and Expenditures

• Government Printing Office -- hardcopy or microform available for purchase from GPO, entitled "Report of the Secretary of the Senate, From April 1, 2009 to September 1, 2009" (Senate Document 111-8)
• The Senate is planning the digital release of expenses in PDF format starting in November. - See "Senate Expenses to be PDF'd"  - written by John Wonderlich at the Sunlight Foundation. April 19, 2011.
• Senate Finally Publishes Its Spending Online, But Could Do Much Better, November 3, 2011

Legislative Authorization

The rules regarding the publication of House and Senate Expenditure reports is detailed in 2 USC 104a. (link)

The Legislative Appropriations Act for FY 2010 (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:hr2918.enr: link--search for "reporting requirement"]) added paragraph 6, requiring the Clerk of the Senate to publish online a searchable, itemized expenditure report. It says, in full:

REPORTING REQUIREMENT Sec. 2. Section 105(a) of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act 1965 (Public Law 88-454; 2 U.S.C. 104a) is amended-- (1) in the last sentence of paragraph (1), by striking `shall' and inserting `may'; and  (2) by adding at the end the following: `(6) Beginning with the report covering the first full semiannual period of the 112th Congress, the Secretary of the Senate-- ` (1) shall publicly post on-line on the website of the Senate each report in a searchable, itemized format as required under this section; `(2) shall issue each report required under this section in electronic form; and `(3) may issue each report required under this section in other forms at the discretion of the Secretary of the Senate.'.

Possible Types of Disbursement Stories

Introduction

The following is a list of subject matter on which disbursement data-driven stories could be told. A contextualization of some of these items can lead to greater understanding of the workings of congress; other can be confusing or misleading.

Types of Stories

Congressional Staff
(a) Comparisons of pay:
by title

• Congress Staffers get Raise in Bad Economy WSBTV, 2010
• What's the Average Staff Pay OpenHouse Project, 2009

by gender

• Obama’s alleged pay gap LegiStorm blog, 2008

against private sector

• Staff pay frozen in time Politico, 2010

(b) Retention rates

• High office turnover rate The Hill, 2008

(c) Which staff are connected to which members
(d) Revolving door (staffer to lobbyist; lobbyist to staffer)

• From Hired Guns to hired hands Center for Responsive Politics, 2011
• Staff salaries set to avoid lobbying ban? Open House Project, 2009
• Lobbyists Take Pay Cut The Hill, 2011
  

(e) Multiple Payments (campaigns, etc)

• Aide gets millions from Comcast Politico, 2011
• Staffers Moonlight for cash Politico, 2010
  

(f) End of year bonuses? Overtime?

• Staffer Bonus Pay Stamford Advocate, 2011
• No Dollar Left Behind The Hill, 2007
  

(g) Member retirement bonuses to staff

• Final days for splurging Legistorm 2011

(h) end-of-year procurement

• Payday for some staffers WSJ, 2011

(i) hiring family members, friends, campaign staff, lobbyist relations

• Lawmaker Spends on Girlfriend Legistorm, 2010
• Records flesh out detail about Baucus’ relationship with staffer Legistorm, 2009
• John Boehner adds lobbyist to staff Politico, 2010

(j) which staff are connected to other staff
(k) who is considered a senior staff who must file additional disclosure forms

Office expenses
(a) Compare travel costs

• Congress’ Travel Tab Swells WSJ, 2009
• Who are the top travelers? Center for Public Integrity, 2006

(b) Travel boondoggles

• Senator returns money for chartered flights Politico, 2011
• Travel Reports Understand Cost WSJ, 2009
• Congress Travels, Public Pays WSJ, 2009

(c) compare mail (USPS vs. FedEx vs. UPS)
(d) cell phone usage
(e) inappropriate expenses (overcharges, bogus charges, cheaper sourced products)
(f) political liability expenses

• Pelosi's flowers Politico, 2009
• Bottled water The Hill, 2011
• Republican freshman spending Politico, 2011

(g) look at where bulk/ percentage of offices expenses go

• Individual Member Office Expenses chron.com, 2010
  

(h) expenses for transportation (e.g. car leases, purchases)

• Congressman pays government back after story about car lease The Hill, 2010

(i) Buy american

• Senator Demands gift shop flags be made in America The Hill, 2011

Other stories
(a) leadership expense funds

• Leadership expense funds not being cut Roll Call, 2011
• Speaker’s Monthly Tab Roll Call, 2011

(b) former speakers allocation

• Former Speaker Haster’s perk costs taxpayers $1 million Chicago Tribune, 2010

Transformative uses
(a) house staff directory

• House Staff Directory Sunlight Foundation