House Passes Bill to Increase Transparency in Agency Use of Funds

The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act (H.R. 22), introduced by U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL), passed the House in a 412-2 vote. This bipartisan bill would increase transparency of government funding by allowing the public to access an easy to use database with a breakdown of spending.

Congressional budget justifications are usually not available to the public, but this act would require agencies to disclose how they propose to use the money they request from Congress. Under this bill, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) would be required to keep an updated list of agencies that are expected to submit budget justifications, the date of their submission to Congress, the date the justification is posted online, and a link to the materials.

This bill was supported by a diverse coalition, including Demand Progress, FreedomWorks, and Government Information Watch.

Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who introduced the bill with Rep. Quigley, said, “Given the trillions of dollars the federal government spends annually, Congress and the American people must have full access to the hundreds of detailed budget plans each federal agency prepares in support of the President’s annual budget request. The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act assures centralized and consistent open access to the federal government’s detailed spending plans, helping to increase public transparency and Congressional oversight.”

Rep. Quigley said of the bill, “People across America should be able to readily access information on how their hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being spent. Congressional budget justifications are not only challenging to find on the internet, but some agencies may not even publish their justifications at all. Increasing transparency in the federal government is crucial in empowering the American people to verify that their taxpayer dollars are being used to wisely invest in their communities.”

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, strongly supported the passage of this bill and stated, “The bill before us, the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act, is a common sense, good government measure every Member should support. This bill builds on the work of the Committee to improve government transparency by allowing the public to more easily learn how federal agencies spend their taxpayer dollars.”