Government Computer News
Hill studies spending database
Experts say it’s technically possible, but politically difficult
Digg
De.licio.us
Slashdot
Technorati
Image: Ron Sachs
The bottom line is that there is no single source of information explaining where federal money is spent, and there should be.”
— Sen. Tom Coburn
— Sen. Tom Coburn
If large banks can monitor individual credit card transactions, certainly the Office of Management and Budget can set up a Web site for federal expenditures, said Alan Webber, senior analyst at Forrester Research Inc. of Cambridge, Mass.
“It would be a huge undertaking, but it would be feasible,” Webber said. “This is easy,” when compared to monitoring personal banking records.
But whether such an idea is politically feasible is something else entirely. “The lobbyists are not going to want this to come out,” Webber said.
Searchable Web site
Webber is referring to legislation, introduced earlier this year by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), that would require OMB to set up a searchable Web site containing data on all sorts of federal spending, including contracts, subcontracts, grants, subgrants, loans and other financial assistance.
The database must be searchable by agency, geography, industry, congressional district and types of federal funding, the bill says.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed the bill at its July 27 business meeting. Committee chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) has expressed her support for the bill. If enacted, S 2590 would require the site to be operational by Jan. 1, 2008.
There is no House companion bill, but a narrower version was introduced by Reps. Tom Davis (R-Va.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who marshaled it through the House in June. The House bill, HR 5060, focuses exclusively on grants.
The government currently relies on the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation, a database maintained by the General Services Administration, to track information about federal procurement contracts. GSA, through its contract with Global Computer Enterprises Inc. of Reston, Va., enhanced the system in 2004. It now interfaces with nearly all agency procurement systems.
Although the system is widely praised as a good first step in providing transparency in government spending, government auditors last year said the system has been plagued with compatibility problems and incomplete data.
Coburn, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security, said at a recent hearing on his bill that FPDS-NG and the Federal Assistance Awards Data System, which provides quarterly data on grants and awards, do not provide enough details.
![1105 Government Information Group [purity]](/images/1105logo_website.gif "Government Computer News [purity]")
© 1996-2008 1105 Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
