The House is poised to vote on an $825 billion economic stimulus package. The legislation represents a historic effort to stabilize the economy through fiscal policy by approving $275 billion in tax cuts and $550 billion in direct spending, including funding for health care, education and job training, community development and housing, and energy and transportation infrastructure projects.
In addition to a massive infusion of resources, the bill has unprecedented disclosure and accountability requirements that represent a singular attempt to bring transparency and accountability to the implementation of the legislation. While the bill makes significant strides in the right direction, Congress would do well to strengthen the legislation's disclosure provisions to ensure that spending is as transparent and accountable as intended.
A section entitled "Accountability in Recovery Act Spending" in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1) details a set of provisions intended to allow the general public to see where, how, and why the appropriated funds are spent. The bill calls for the establishment of a new website, "Recovery.gov", dedicated to promulgating information on stimulus spending. The new website would be "a portal or gateway to key information ... and provide a window to other Government websites with related information." This website would contain:
Information on contracts that are not fixed-price and not awarded using competitive procedures must also be posted in a special section of the website.
The House economic recovery bill is significantly more sophisticated in its approach to transparency and oversight than legislation Congress approved that created the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The TARP law simply mandated that the Treasury Department post online "a description, amounts, and pricing of assets" purchased under the program.
Transparency and oversight in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 extend beyond posting spending data on the Internet. The economic recovery bill establishes an "Accountability and Transparency Board." The oversight body would be headed by the new Chief Performance Officer, Nancy Killefer, and composed of six inspectors general and/or deputy secretaries from various federal agencies. It would be charged with coordinating and conducting oversight of federal spending under the law to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse by submitting monthly reports to Congress on contract and grant awards, contractor performance, and the adequacy of contractor and acquisition oversight within the federal government.
In addition to the Board, the bill would also create an "Independent Advisory Panel" and require regular oversight by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress's investigative arm. Composed of experts in the fields of economics, public finance, and other related disciplines, the Independent Advisory Panel would be charged with advising the Accountability and Transparency Board with an aim to prevent and otherwise identify waste, fraud, and abuse related to spending under the law. The bill also appropriates $25 million to GAO for the ongoing oversight of and reporting on the stimulus bill.
OMB Watch has analyzed the bill's transparency and accountability section and has found areas in which Congress could expand or improve the legislation as drafted. Our analysis expounds on these areas in some detail, but in short we suggest the bill stipulate that:
The existing transparency and accountability measures are substantial and will likely provide unprecedented access to data about stimulus spending enacted through this legislation. However, with minor changes, Congress could significantly increase the depth of transparency and accountability of the funds spent under this bill.
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