[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 598 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 350
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 598
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 12, 2016
Received
January 19, 2016
Read twice and placed on the calendar
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To provide taxpayers with an annual report disclosing the cost and
performance of Government programs and areas of duplication among them,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act''.
SEC. 2. INVENTORY OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--Section 1122(a) of title 31, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as paragraphs
(2) and (3), respectively;
(2) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so redesignated,
the following:
``(1) Definition of program.--For purposes of this
subsection, the term `program' means an organized set of
activities by one or more agencies directed toward a common
purpose or goal.'';
(3) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated--
(A) by striking ``In general.--Not later than
October 1, 2012, the Office of Management and Budget
shall'' and inserting ``Website and program
inventory.--The Director of the Office of Management
and Budget shall'';
(B) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the
following:
``(C) include on the website--
``(i) a program inventory that shall
identify each program of the Federal Government
for which there is more than $1,000,000 in
annual budget authority, which shall include--
``(I) any activity that is commonly
referred to as a program by a Federal
agency in communications with Congress,
including any activity identified as a
program in a budget request;
``(II) any activity that is
commonly referred to as a program by a
Federal agency in communications with
the public, including each program for
which financial awards are made on a
competitive basis; and
``(III) any activity referenced in
law as a program after June 30, 2019;
and
``(ii) for each program identified in the
program inventory, the information required
under paragraph (3) or paragraph (4), as
applicable.'';
(4) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated--
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by
striking ``Information.--Information for each program
described under paragraph (1)'' and inserting
``Information for larger programs.--Information for
each program identified in the program inventory
required under paragraph (2) for which there is more
than $10,000,000 in annual budget authority'';
(B) by striking subparagraph (C);
(C) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as
subparagraph (D);
(D) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the
following:
``(A) an identification of the program activities
that are aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated as
part of identifying programs;
``(B) for each program activity described in
subparagraph (A), the amount of funding for the current
fiscal year and previous 2 fiscal years;
``(C) an estimate of the amount of funding for the
program;'';
(E) in subparagraph (D), as so redesignated, by
striking ``and'' at the end; and
(F) by adding at the end the following:
``(E) an identification of the statutes that
authorize the program and any major regulations
specific to the program;
``(F) for any program that provides grants or other
financial assistance to individuals or entities, for
the most recent fiscal year--
``(i) a description of the individuals
served by the program and beneficiaries who
received financial assistance under the
program, including an estimate of the number of
individuals and beneficiaries, to the extent
practicable;
``(ii) for each program for which the head
of an agency determines it is not practicable
to provide an estimate of the number of
individuals and beneficiaries served by the
program--
``(I) an explanation of why data
regarding the number of such
individuals and beneficiaries cannot be
provided; and
``(II) a discussion of the measures
that could be taken to gather the data
required to provide such an estimate;
and
``(iii) a description of--
``(I) the Federal employees who
administer the program, including the
number of full-time equivalents with a
pro rata estimate for full-time
equivalents associated with multiple
programs; and
``(II) other individuals whose
salary is paid in part or full by the
Federal Government through a grant,
contract, cooperative agreement, or
another form of financial award or
assistance who administer or assist in
any way in administering the program,
including the number of full-time
equivalents, to the extent practicable;
``(G) links to any evaluation, assessment, or
program performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector
General, or the Government Accountability Office
(including program performance reports required under
section 1116) released during the preceding 5 years;
and
``(H) to the extent practicable, financial and
other information for each program activity required to
be reported under the Federal Funding Accountability
and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note).'';
and
(5) by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Information for smaller programs.--Information for
each program identified in the program inventory required under
paragraph (2) for which there is more than $1,000,000 and not
more than $10,000,000 in annual budget authority shall, at a
minimum, include--
``(A) an identification of the program activities
that are aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated as
part of identifying programs;
``(B) for each program activity described in
subparagraph (A), the amount of funding for the current
fiscal year and previous 2 fiscal years;
``(C) an identification of the statutes that
authorize the program and any major regulations
specific to the program;
``(D) for any program that provides grants or other
financial assistance to individuals or entities, a
description of the individuals served by the program
and beneficiaries who received financial assistance
under the program for the most recent fiscal year; and
``(E) links to any evaluation, assessment, or
program performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector
General, or the Government Accountability Office
(including program performance reports required under
section 1116) released during the preceding 5 years.
``(5) Archiving.--After the end of each fiscal year, the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall archive
and preserve the information included in the program inventory
required under paragraph (2) relating to that fiscal year.''.
(b) Expired Grant Funding.--Not later than February 1 of each
fiscal year, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall
publish on a public website the total amount of undisbursed grant
funding remaining in grant accounts for which the period of
availability to the grantee has expired.
SEC. 3. GUIDANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION.
(a) Guidance.--Not later than June 30, 2018, the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget--
(1) shall prescribe guidance to implement this Act, and the
amendments made by this Act;
(2) shall issue guidance to agencies to identify how the
program activities used for reporting under the Federal Funding
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101
note) are associated with programs identified in the program
inventory required under section 1122(a)(2)(C)(i) of title 31,
United States Code, as amended by subsection (a);
(3) may issue guidance to agencies to ensure that the
programs identified in the program inventory required under
section 1122(a)(2)(C)(i) of title 31, United States Code, as
amended by subsection (a), are presented at a similar level of
detail across agencies and are not duplicative or overlapping;
and
(4) may, based on an analysis of the costs of
implementation, and after submitting to Congress a notification
of the action by the Director--
(A) exempt from the requirements under section
1122(a) of title 31, United States Code, an agency
that--
(i) is not listed in section 901(b) of
title 31, United States Code; and
(ii) for the fiscal year during which the
exemption is made, has budget authority (as
defined in section 3 of the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622)) of not more
than $10,000,000; and
(B) extend the implementation deadline under
subsection (b) by not more than 1 year.
(b) Implementation.--This Act, and the amendments made by this Act,
shall be implemented not later than June 30, 2019.
SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.
No additional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements of
this Act and the amendments made by this Act. Such requirements shall
be carried out using amounts otherwise authorized.
Passed the House of Representatives January 11, 2016.
Attest:
KAREN L. HAAS,
Clerk.
Calendar No. 350
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 598
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To provide taxpayers with an annual report disclosing the cost and
performance of Government programs and areas of duplication among them,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
January 19, 2016
Read twice and placed on the calendar