Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3830 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 10, 2020 Received AN ACT To provide taxpayers with an improved understanding of Government programs through the disclosure of cost, performance, and areas of duplication among them, lever- age existing data to achieve a functional Federal pro- gram inventory, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 3830 RDS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taxpayers Right-To- 2 Know Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. INVENTORY OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS. 4 Section 1122(a) of title 31, United States Code, is 5 amended— 6 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 7 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; 8 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re- 9 designated, the following: 10 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub- 11 section— 12 ‘‘(A) the term ‘Federal financial assist- 13 ance’ has the meaning given that term under 14 section 7501; 15 ‘‘(B) the term ‘open Government data 16 asset’ has the meaning given that term under 17 section 3502 of title 44; 18 ‘‘(C) the term ‘program’ means a single 19 program activity or an organized set of aggre- 20 gated, disaggregated, or consolidated program 21 activities by one or more agencies directed to- 22 ward a common purpose or goal; and 23 ‘‘(D) the term ‘program activity’ has the 24 meaning given that term in section 1115(h).’’; 25 (3) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 3830 RDS (A) by striking ‘‘IN GENERAL.—Not later 1 than October 1, 2012, the Office of Manage- 2 ment and Budget shall’’ and inserting 3 ‘‘WEBSITE AND PROGRAM INVENTORY.—The 4 Director of the Office of Management and 5 Budget shall’’; 6 (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 7 ‘‘that includes the information required under 8 subsections (b) and (c)’’ after ‘‘a single 9 website’’; and 10 (C) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C) 11 and inserting the following: 12 ‘‘(B) include on the website described in 13 subparagraph (A), or another appropriate Fed- 14 eral Government website where related informa- 15 tion is made available, as determined by the Di- 16 rector— 17 ‘‘(i) a program inventory that shall 18 identify each program; and 19 ‘‘(ii) for each program identified in 20 the program inventory, the information re- 21 quired under paragraph (3); 22 ‘‘(C) make the information in the program 23 inventory required under subparagraph (B) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 3830 RDS available as an open Government data asset; 1 and 2 ‘‘(D) at a minimum— 3 ‘‘(i) update the information required 4 to be included on the single website under 5 subparagraph (A) on a quarterly basis; 6 and 7 ‘‘(ii) update the program inventory re- 8 quired under subparagraph (B) on an an- 9 nual basis.’’; 10 (4) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated— 11 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 12 (A), by striking ‘‘described under paragraph (1) 13 shall include’’ and inserting ‘‘identified in the 14 program inventory required under paragraph 15 (2)(B) shall include’’; 16 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 17 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 18 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 19 period at the end and inserting ‘‘and,’’; and 20 (D) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(D) for each program activity that is part 22 of a program— 23 ‘‘(i) a description of the purposes of 24 the program activity and the contribution 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 3830 RDS of the program activity to the mission and 1 goals of the agency; 2 ‘‘(ii) a consolidated view for the cur- 3 rent fiscal year and each of the 2 fiscal 4 years before the current fiscal year of— 5 ‘‘(I) the amount appropriated; 6 ‘‘(II) the amount obligated; and 7 ‘‘(III) the amount outlayed; 8 ‘‘(iii) to the extent practicable and 9 permitted by law, links to any related eval- 10 uation, assessment, or program perform- 11 ance review by the agency, an inspector 12 general, or the Government Accountability 13 Office (including program performance re- 14 ports required under section 1116), and 15 other related evidence assembled in re- 16 sponse to implementation of the Founda- 17 tions for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act 18 of 2018 (Public Law 115–435; 132 Stat. 19 5529); 20 ‘‘(iv) an identification of the statutes 21 that authorize the program activity or the 22 authority under which the program activity 23 was created or operates; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 3830 RDS ‘‘(v) an identification of any major 1 regulations specific to the program activity; 2 ‘‘(vi) any other information that the 3 Director of the Office of Management and 4 Budget determines relevant relating to pro- 5 gram activity data in priority areas most 6 relevant to Congress or the public to in- 7 crease transparency and accountability; 8 and 9 ‘‘(vii) for each assistance listing under 10 which Federal financial assistance is pro- 11 vided, for the current fiscal year and each 12 of the 2 fiscal years before the current fis- 13 cal year and consistent with existing law 14 relating to the protection of personally 15 identifiable information— 16 ‘‘(I) a linkage to the relevant 17 program activities that fund Federal 18 financial assistance by assistance list- 19 ing; 20 ‘‘(II) information on the popu- 21 lation intended to be served by the as- 22 sistance listing based on the language 23 of the solicitation, as required under 24 section 6102; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 3830 RDS ‘‘(III) to the extent practicable 1 and based on data reported to the 2 agency providing the Federal financial 3 assistance, the results of the Federal 4 financial assistance awards provided 5 by the assistance listing; 6 ‘‘(IV) to the extent practicable, 7 the percentage of the amount appro- 8 priated for the assistance listing that 9 is used for management and adminis- 10 tration; 11 ‘‘(V) the identification of each 12 award of Federal financial assistance 13 and, to the extent practicable, the 14 name of each direct or indirect recipi- 15 ent of the award; and 16 ‘‘(VI) any information relating to 17 the award of Federal financial assist- 18 ance that is required to be included on 19 the website established under section 20 2(b) of the Federal Funding Account- 21 ability and Transparency Act of 2006 22 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).’’; and 23 (5) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 3830 RDS ‘‘(4) ARCHIVING.—The Director of the Office of 1 Management and Budget shall— 2 ‘‘(A) archive and preserve the information 3 included in the program inventory required 4 under paragraph (2)(B) after the end of the pe- 5 riod during which such information is made 6 available under paragraph (3); and 7 ‘‘(B) make information archived in accord- 8 ance with subparagraph (A) publicly available 9 as an open Government data asset.’’. 10 SEC. 3. GUIDANCE, IMPLEMENTATION, REPORTING, AND 11 REVIEW. 12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 13 (1) the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 14 mittees’’ means the Committee on Oversight and Re- 15 form of the House of Representatives and the Com- 16 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af- 17 fairs of the Senate; 18 (2) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 19 the Office of Management and Budget; 20 (3) the term ‘‘program’’ has the meaning given 21 that term in section 1122(a)(1) of title 31, United 22 States Code, as amended by section 2 of this Act; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 3830 RDS (4) the term ‘‘program activity’’ has the mean- 1 ing given that term in section 1115(h) of title 31, 2 United States Code; and 3 (5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 4 of the Treasury. 5 (b) PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION AND RECONCILING 6 PROGRAM DEFINITIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, in con- 8 sultation with the Secretary, shall submit to the appro- 9 priate congressional committees a report that— 10 (1) includes a plan that— 11 (A) discusses how making available on a 12 website the information required under sub- 13 section (a) of section 1122 of title 31, United 14 States Code, as amended by section 2, will le- 15 verage existing data sources while avoiding du- 16 plicative or overlapping information in pre- 17 senting information relating to program activi- 18 ties and programs; 19 (B) indicates how any gaps in data will be 20 assessed and addressed; 21 (C) indicates how the Director will display 22 such data; and 23 (D) discusses how the Director will expand 24 the information collected with respect to pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 HR 3830 RDS gram activities to incorporate the information 1 required under the amendments made by sec- 2 tion 2; 3 (2) sets forth details regarding a pilot program, 4 developed in accordance with best practices for effec- 5 tive pilot programs— 6 (A) to develop and implement a functional 7 program inventory that could be limited in 8 scope; and 9 (B) under which the information required 10 under the amendments made by section 2 with 11 respect to program activities shall be made 12 available on the website required under section 13 1122(a) of title 31, United States Code; 14 (3) establishes an implementation timeline 15 for— 16 (A) gathering and building program activ- 17 ity information; 18 (B) developing and implementing the pilot 19 program; 20 (C) seeking and responding to stakeholder 21 comments; 22 (D) developing and presenting findings 23 from the pilot program to the appropriate con- 24 gressional committees; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 HR 3830 RDS (E) notifying the appropriate congressional 1 committees regarding how program activities 2 will be aggregated, disaggregated, or consoli- 3 dated as part of identifying programs; and 4 (F) implementing a Governmentwide pro- 5 gram inventory through an iterative approach; 6 and 7 (4) includes recommendations, if any, to rec- 8 oncile the conflicting definitions of the term ‘‘pro- 9 gram’’ in relevant Federal statutes, as it relates to 10 the purpose of this Act. 11 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 14 make available online all information required under 15 the amendments made by section 2 with respect to 16 all programs. 17 (2) EXTENSIONS.—The Director may, based on 18 an analysis of the costs of implementation, and after 19 submitting to the appropriate congressional commit- 20 tees a notification of the action by the Director, ex- 21 tend the deadline for implementation under para- 22 graph (1) by not more than a total of 1 year. 23 (d) REPORTING.—Not later than 2 years after the 24 date on which the Director makes available online all in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 HR 3830 RDS formation required under the amendments made by sec- 1 tion 2 with respect to all programs, the Comptroller Gen- 2 eral of the United States shall submit to the appropriate 3 congressional committees a report regarding the imple- 4 mentation of this Act and the amendments made by this 5 Act, which shall— 6 (1) review how the Director and agencies deter- 7 mined how to aggregate, disaggregate, or consolidate 8 program activities to provide the most useful infor- 9 mation for an inventory of Government programs; 10 (2) evaluate the extent to which the program 11 inventory required under section 1122 of title 31, 12 United States Code, as amended by this Act, pro- 13 vides useful information for transparency, decision- 14 making, and oversight; 15 (3) evaluate the extent to which the program 16 inventory provides a coherent picture of the scope of 17 Federal investments in particular areas; and 18 (4) include the recommendations of the Comp- 19 troller General, if any, for improving implementation 20 of this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 21 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1122 of title 31, United 23 States Code, is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 HR 3830 RDS (1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 1 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘described in subsection 2 (a)(2)(A)’’ after ‘‘the website’’ each place it appears; 3 (2) in subsection (c), in the matter preceding 4 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘described in subsection 5 (a)(2)(A)’’ after ‘‘the website’’; and 6 (3) in subsection (d)— 7 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 8 ‘‘ON WEBSITE’’; and 9 (B) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘on 10 the website’’. 11 (b) OTHER AMENDMENTS.— 12 (1) Section 1115(a) of title 31, United States 13 Code, is amended in the matter preceding paragraph 14 (1) by striking ‘‘the website provided under’’ and in- 15 serting ‘‘a website described in’’. 16 (2) Section 10 of the GPRA Modernization Act 17 of 2010 (31 U.S.C. 1115 note) is amended— 18 (A) in subsection (a)(3), by striking ‘‘the 19 website described under’’ and inserting ‘‘a 20 website described in’’; and 21 (B) in subsection (b)— 22 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the 23 website described under’’ and inserting ‘‘a 24 website described in’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:18 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3830.RDS H3830 pamtman [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]