On April 17, the Coalition for an Accountable Recovery (CAR) submitted its comments on the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) April 3 memo, "Updated Implementing Guidance for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009." The memo is a supplement to a previous set of guidelines issued Feb. 18 to federal agencies on the implementation of the Recovery Act. CAR notes that OMB’s efforts are laudable and that the guidance is helpful in advancing transparency and accountability with regard to Recovery Act spending. However, the coalition also argues that the guidance still needs modification for meaningful transparency and accountability to be realized.

The Coalition for an Accountable Recovery was formed to promote accountability policies for both government agencies and companies that contract with or benefit from recovery spending. Seizing 21st technology tools and precedents from states and cities, taxpayers deserve transparency and accountability in all new recovery efforts.