Senators weigh bill on disclosure of government spending
Requirement to report procurement spending may prove sticking point.
Supporters of legislation that would shed light on government spending through the use of a searchable database told a Senate subcommittee Tuesday that the measure would improve government transparency and help cut excessive spending.
The bill, sponsored by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Federal Financial Management Subcommittee Chairman Tom Coburn, R-Okla., would establish a public database that would track federal money doled out to institutions.
A similar measure coasted through the House last month, but unlike the pending Senate measure, the bill sponsored by House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., would not require that federal spending on government procurements be reported.
Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch and a supporter of the Senate bill, said the difference might be a sticking point down the road during conference negotiations. "This bill is about disclosure. It should show where the government's hand is reaching," he said.
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., co-sponsors of Coburn's measure, also testified before the subcommittee to drum up support for the measure.
McCain told members during the hearing that the bill would curtail excessive spending, and called it "the tool necessary to put us on track to real accountability and reform."
The legislation would charge OMB with creating a free and searchable Web site containing information going back 10 years on all the corporations, associations, nonprofits, universities and individuals that received federal money.
The database, which Coburn said would be the "Google for government spending," would include information on the names of grantees and sub-grantees receiving money, when and how much they were awarded, and an itemized breakdown of each transaction.
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she intended to schedule a full committee markup on the measure before the August recess.