[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3836 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3836
To establish within the Executive Office of the President the Taxpayer
Watchdog Office.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 15, 2022
Ms. Ernst introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish within the Executive Office of the President the Taxpayer
Watchdog Office.
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 Watchdog Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' means--
(A) an Executive agency, as defined in section 105
of title 5, United States Code; and
(B) an independent regulatory agency, as defined in
section 3502 of title 44, United States Code.
(2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
Openness in Government appointed under section 3(b).
(3) Federal transparency laws.--The term ``Federal
transparency laws'' means transparency laws of the Federal
Government, including--
(A) section 552 of title 5, United States Code;
(B) section 552b of title 5, United States Code;
(C) the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note);
(D) the program inventory of each Federal agency
required under section 1122(a) of title 31, United
States Code;
(E) section 2374b of title 10, United States Code;
(F) section 11319 of title I of the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58); and
(G) any requirement included in an annual
appropriations Act for a grant recipient of Federal
funds to include in statements, press releases,
requests for proposals, bid solicitations, or other
documents describing projects or programs funded in
whole or in part with Federal money--
(i) the percentage of the total costs of
the program or project which will be financed
with Federal money;
(ii) the dollar amount of Federal funds for
the project or program; or
(iii) the percentage and dollar amount of
the total costs of the project or program that
will be financed by non-governmental sources.
(4) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Taxpayer
Watchdog Office established under section 3(a).
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TAXPAYER WATCHDOG OFFICE.
(a) Establishment.--There is established within the Executive
Office of the President the Taxpayer Watchdog Office.
(b) Director.--The Director shall be the head of the Office and
shall be appointed by the President.
(c) Staff Resources.--The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget shall ensure that the Office has sufficient staff resources to
enable the Director to fulfill the duties described in section 4.
SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE OFFICE.
(a) Oversight.--
(1) Implementation of government transparency laws.--The
Director shall oversee the implementation of Federal
transparency laws.
(2) Complaints.--The Director shall accept and review
complaints about a failure of an agency to comply with a
Federal transparency law.
(3) Evaluation.--The Director shall develop a standard
compliance and performance scoring methodology using a 100-
point scale and shall evaluate and grade each agency according
to the scale by considering--
(A) the compliance of the agency with Federal
transparency laws, including the accuracy,
thoroughness, and timeliness of the agency in providing
the public the information required by those laws; and
(B) any other action taken by the agency to
increase openness in the Federal Government.
(4) Cooperation.--
(A) In general.--The Director may collect necessary
information from agencies to determine whether an
agency is in compliance with Federal transparency laws.
(B) Agency cooperation.--Each agency shall
cooperate with the Office to provide information
necessary to complete the evaluation required under
paragraph (3).
(b) Information to the Public.--The Director shall--
(1) with respect to information to which the public is
required to be provided access under Federal transparency
laws--
(A) compile and maintain on a searchable public
website an up-to-date summary of the information and
the manner in which the information may be accessed;
and
(B) compile a summary of the legal limitations to
accessing the information, including limitations
relating to personal privacy, national security, law
enforcement, and privileged communications; and
(2) compile case law on the interpretation of Federal
transparency laws.
(c) Report and Recommendations.--
(1) Annual report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Director
shall make available to the public a report--
(A) listing--
(i) each Federal transparency law; and
(ii) the compilation of information
relating to Federal transparency laws required
under subsection (b)(1);
(B) summarizing the evaluations required under
subsection (a)(3);
(C) detailing how the Federal transparency laws
apply to--
(i) each agency; and
(ii) each entity receiving Federal
financial assistance, including grants,
subgrants, loans, contracts, and tax
expenditures;
(D) providing statistics on the timeliness and
completeness of agency reporting and disclosure of
information required to be provided or disclosed under
Federal transparency laws; and
(E) including any agency response to the evaluation
in the report.
(2) Recommendations.--Not later than 2 years after the date
of enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than every 2
years thereafter, the Director shall submit to the President,
the heads of agencies, and Congress recommendations for
improvements to increase transparency in the activities and
missions of, and supported by, the Federal Government.
SEC. 5. OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.
The Director may appoint and terminate such officers and employees
as may be necessary to enable the Office to perform the duties of the
Office.
SEC. 6. FUNDING.
The Office shall be funded through the Office of Management and
Budget.
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