DATA Act

On a voice vote, the House backed the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, known as the DATA Act. The legislation would establish uniform standards for all recipients to report federal money and set up a single website where average Americans could search for information on how government agencies, departments and other recipients spend federal funds.

The House-passed DATA Act creates a five-member commission to oversee government transparency.

House leaders say the DATA Act has a good chance at becoming law this session. Support for the bill from the Senate and the White House seems to be increasing.

Some agency leaders who would be charged with implementing the bill are unsure the DATA Act can be brought to life successfully. Officials said the government can improve how it makes data accessible and publishes procurement and other spending information. But the DATA Act may be asking for things that aren’t pragmatically possible.

In this week’s edition of Inside the Reporter’s Notebook, Executive Editor Jason Miller shares news and buzz in the acquisition and IT communities that you may have missed.

The Office of Management and Budget’s markup of the Senate’s version of the bill changes language around requiring data standards and how the information should be published. Open government advocates are concerned about OMB’s suggestions.

Despite the billions spent investing in systems, financial processes are such that when you add up all the layers, it takes something akin to archaeology for a citizen to unearth a specific fact about where and how money was spent, says Federal News Radio host Tom Temin.

President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law later this week that will require new levels of effort to make federal data more accessible. Now that the three-year effort to get the bill passed is complete, the hard work begins to make it a reality.

In a win for open-government advocates, President Barack Obama plans to sign the Digital Accountability and Transparency (DATA) Act into law. Big changes are ahead for federal agencies. Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller explained to Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp why getting the bill to the President’s desk may have been the easy part of this nearly three-year effort. Read Federal News Radio’s related article.

Financial advisor Arthur Stein will answer your calls and emails about the TSP. Also, Andy Medici and Amber Corrin of the Federal Times will discuss, among other things, Public Service Recognition Week and the recently passed DATA Act. April 30, 2014