[Senate Report 116-221]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 436
116th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 116-221
_______________________________________________________________________
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET JUSTIFICATION TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2019
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 2560
TO AMEND THE FEDERAL FUNDING ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ACT OF
2006, TO REQUIRE THE BUDGET JUSTIFICATIONS AND APPROPRIATION REQUESTS
OF AGENCIES BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
March 2, 2020.--Ordered to be printed
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
99-010 WASHINGTON : 2020
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
RAND PAUL, Kentucky THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah KAMALA D. HARRIS, California
RICK SCOTT, Florida KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
Gabrielle D'Adamo Singer, Staff Director
Joseph C. Folio III, Chief Counsel
Courtney Allen Rutland, Deputy Chief Counsel for Governmental Affairs
Daniel J. Spino, Professional Staff Member
David M. Weinberg, Minority Staff Director
Zachary I. Schram, Minority Chief Counsel
Yogin J. Kothari, Minority Professional Staff Member
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 436
116th Congress } { Report
SENATE
2d Session } { 116-221
======================================================================
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET JUSTIFICATION TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2019
_______
March 2, 2020.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 2560]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 2560) to amend the
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, to
require the budget justifications and appropriation requests of
agencies be made publicly available, and for other purposes,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an
amendment and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. 1Background and Need for the Legislation.........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................2
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................2
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................3
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................3
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............4
I. Purpose and Summary
The purpose of S. 2560, the Congressional Budget
Justification Transparency Act, is to provide the public with
more information regarding agencies' budget justifications.
This bill requires Federal agencies to post their congressional
budget justification materials on the agency website. The bill
also requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to
maintain a public website that includes the links to the
congressional budget justification materials for each agency
for each fiscal year among other information, and for the
Department of Treasury (Treasury) to post the congressional
budget justification materials for each agency on
USAspending.gov.
II. Background and the Need for Legislation
Agencies provide congressional budget justifications for
annual funding requests to Congress to explain the resources
needed to run programs and achieve performance goals. Agency
congressional budget justifications, while publically
available, can sometimes be challenging to find. Some agencies
post budget justification documents directly to their
website,\1\ while some submit directly to OMB, who then curates
them into the President's Annual Budget.\2\ The lack of a
designated and structured database to access congressional
budget justification reports makes it difficult to determine
where a particular budget justification for a particular year
may be located. USAspending.gov currently hosts some agency's
congressional budget justifications but the collection is not
exhaustive.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Small Business Administration, Congressional budget
justification and annual performance report (2019), available at
https://www.sba.gov/document/report--congressional-budget-
justification-annual-performance-report.
\2\ Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the U.S. Government,
A Budget for a Better America, The Budget for Fiscal Year 2020 (Mar.
11, 2019), available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/
2019/03/budget-fy2020.pdf.
\3\ Tajha Chappellet-Lanier, USASpending.gov now has a home for
(most) agency budget justifications, Fedscoop, Scoop News Group (Aug.
21, 2019), available at https://www.fedscoop.com/usaspending-
congressional-budget-justifications-page/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
S. 2560 improves transparency by making congressional
budget justifications readily available to the public for
accountability and oversight. S. 2560 requires federal agencies
to provide two online avenues to their budget justification
documents: on the agency website and on USAspending.gov.
III. Legislative History
S. 2560 was introduced on September 26, 2019, by Ranking
Member Gary Peters (D-MI) and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH). The
bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs.
The Committee considered S. 2560 at a business meeting on
November 6, 2019. S. 2560 passed by voice vote en bloc with
Senators Johnson, Portman, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, Enzi,
Hawley, Peters, Carper, Hassan, Sinema, and Rosen present.
Consistent with Committee rules, the bill was reported with a
technical and conforming amendment agreed to by the Chairman
and Ranking Member.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported
Section 1. Short title
This section establishes the short title of the bill as the
Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act of 2019.
Section 2. Public availability of budget justifications and
appropriation requests
Section 2 requires the Federal Government to publicly post
Federal agencies' budget justifications on certain websites.
Subsection (a) requires Treasury to post the budget
justification materials for every agency on the website
USAspending.gov starting with the second fiscal year beginning
after the date of enactment. The budget justification materials
must be posted within two weeks from the date on which the
materials were first submitted to Congress in an open format.
Subsection (b) requires agencies to publish the budget
justification materials submitted to Congress on the website of
the agency. OMB must establish guidelines for agencies to use a
website name that is consistent across agencies and
identifiable to the public, such as ``agencyname.gov/budget.''
OMB must also maintain a website consisting of a list
identifying each agency that submits budget justification
materials for each fiscal year. The list must also include the
date on which materials were first submitted to Congress and
link to the agency website hosting the information. This
information must be made available in an open format. This
subsection also requires OMB to link to this list on its own
website that hosts the president's budget.
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimates
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, February 4, 2020.
Hon. Ron Johnson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2560, the
Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act of 2019.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
S. 2560 would require Federal agencies to publish more
information online about federal spending and about the budget
in general. All agencies would be required to post their annual
budget justification documents online and to make those
documents available to the public in a centralized, searchable
database, as well as at each agency's website. The Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) would coordinate the effort.
Because this information is already created by agencies and
collected by OMB, CBO estimates that implementing the bill
would cost less than $500,000 over the 2020-2025 period. Those
costs would primarily be for administrative expenses at OMB and
governmentwide to make the information available online.
Enacting S. 2560 could affect direct spending by some
agencies that are allowed to use fees, receipts from the sale
of goods, and other collections to cover operating costs. CBO
estimates that any net changes in direct spending by those
agencies would be negligible because most of them can adjust
amounts collected to reflect changes in operating costs.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss,
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows: (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is
printed in italic, and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
TITLE 31--MONEY AND FINANCE
* * * * * * *
SUBTITLE II--THE BUDGET PROCESS
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 11--THE BUDGET AND FISCAL, BUDGET, AND PROGRAM INFORMATION
* * * * * * *
SEC. 1105. BUDGET CONTENTS AND SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(i)
(1) The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget shall make publicly available on an internet
website, and continuously update, a tabular list for
each fiscal year of each agency that submits to
Congress budget justification materials in support of
the budget of the agency, which shall include--
(A) the name of the agency;
(B) a unique identifier that identifies the
agency;
(C) to the extent practicable, the date on
which the budget justification materials of the
agency are first submitted to Congress;
(D) the date on which the budget
justification materials of the agency are
posted online under section 3 of the Federal
Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of
2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note);
(E) the uniform resource locator where the
budget justification materials submitted to
Congress are published on the website of the
agency; and
(F) a single data set that contains the
information described in subparagraphs (A)
through (E) with respect to the agency for all
fiscal years for which budget justifications of
the agency are made available under section 3
of the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note)
in a structured data format.
(2)
(A) Each agency that submits to Congress
budget justification materials in support of
the budget of the agency shall make the
materials available on the website of the
agency.
(B) The Director of Office of Management and
Budget shall establish best practices for
agencies relating to making available materials
under subparagraph (A)(i), which shall include
guidelines for using a uniform resource locator
that is in a consistent format across agencies
and is descriptive, memorable, and
pronounceable, such as the format of
``agencyname.gov/budget''.
(C) If the Director of Office of Management
and Budget maintains a public website that
contains the budget of the United States
Government submitted under subsection (a) and
any related materials, such website shall also
contain a link to the tabular list required
under paragraph (1).
(3) In this subsection, the term ``budget
justification materials'' has the meaning given that
term in section 3 of the Federal Funding Accountability
and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).
* * * * * * *
SUBTITLE V--GENERAL ASSISTANCE ADMINISTRATION
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 61--PROGRAM INFORMATION
* * * * * * *
SECTION 6101 DEFINITIONS
* * * * * * *
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
* * * * * * *
FEDERAL FUNDING ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY
SEC. 1. * * *
SEC. 2. * * *
SEC 3. FULL DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.
(a) In General.--Not [later than 3 years after the date of
enactment of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of
2014 [May 9, 2014], and] less frequently than monthly when
practicable, [but not less] and in any event, not less
frequently than quarterly [thereafter], the Secretary[,] (in
consultation with the Director and, with respect to information
described in subsection (b)(2), the head of the applicable
Federal agency)[,] shall ensure that updated information with
respect to the information described in subsection (b) is
posted on the website established under section 2.
(b) Information To Be Posted.--
(1) Funds.--For any funds made available to or
expended by a Federal agency or component of a Federal
agency, the information to be posted shall include--
[(1)] (A) for each appropriations account, including
an expired or unexpired appropriations account, the
amount--
[(A)] (i) of budget authority appropriated;
[(B)] (ii) that is obligated;
[(C)] (iii) of unobligated balances; and
[(D)] (iv) of any other budgetary resources;
[(2)] (B) from which accounts and in what amount--
[(A)] (i) appropriations are obligated for
each program activity; and
[(B)] (ii) outlays are made for each program
activity;
[(3)] (C) from which accounts and in what amount--
[(A)] (i) appropriations are obligated for
each object class; and
[(B)] (ii) outlays are made for each object
class; and
[(4)] (D) for each program activity, the amount--
(A) obligated for each object class; and
(B) of outlays made for each object class.
(2) Budget Justifications.--
(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
(i) the term ``agency'' has the
meaning given that term in section 101
of title 31, United States Code; and
(ii) the term ``budget justification
materials'' means the annual budget
justification materials of an agency
that are submitted to Congress in
support of the budget of the agency, in
conjunction with the budget of the
United States Government submitted
under section 1105(a) of title 31,
United States Code.
(B) Information.--The information to be
posted shall include the budget justification
materials of each agency--
(i) for the second fiscal year
beginning after the date of enactment
of this paragraph, and each fiscal year
thereafter; and
(ii) to the extent practicable, that
were released for any fiscal year
before the date of enactment of this
paragraph.
(C) Format.--Budget justification materials
shall be posted under subparagraph (B)--
(i) in an open format;
(ii) in a manner that enables users
to download individual reports,
download all reports in bulk, and
download in bulk the results of a
search, to the extent practicable; and
(iii) in a structured data format, to
the extent practicable.
(D) Deadline.--The budget justification
materials required to be posted under
subparagraph (B)(i) shall be posted not later
than 2 weeks after the date on which the budget
justification materials are first submitted to
Congress.
(E) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this
paragraph shall be construed to authorize the
agency to destroy any budget justification
materials relating to a fiscal year before the
fiscal year described in subparagraph (B)(i)
* * * * * * *
[all]