The Data Transparency Coalition, the Sunlight Foundation and others are calling for reintroduction of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) in order to make U.S. government spending more transparent.
Transparency in government spending is essential for an informed electorate. An electorate that can call attention to spending that is inconsistent with policies voted for by the electorate. Accountability as it were.
But saying “transparency” is easy. Achieving transparency, not so easy.
Let’s look at some of the details in the DATA Act.
(2) DATA STANDARDS-
‘(A) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the General Services Administration, and the heads of Federal agencies, shall establish Government-wide financial data standards for Federal funds, which may–
‘(i) include common data elements, such as codes, unique award identifiers, and fields, for financial and payment information required to be reported by Federal agencies;
‘(ii) to the extent reasonable and practicable, ensure interoperability and incorporate–
‘(I) common data elements developed and maintained by an international voluntary consensus standards body, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, such as the International Organization for Standardization;
‘(II) common data elements developed and maintained by Federal agencies with authority over contracting and financial assistance, such as the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council; and
‘(III) common data elements developed and maintained by accounting standards organizations; and
‘(iii) include data reporting standards that, to the extent reasonable and practicable–
‘(I) incorporate a widely accepted, nonproprietary, searchable, platform-independent computer-readable format;
‘(II) be consistent with and implement applicable accounting principles;
‘(III) be capable of being continually upgraded as necessary; and
‘(IV) incorporate nonproprietary standards in effect on the date of enactment of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2012.
‘(B) DEADLINES-
‘(i) GUIDANCE- The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall issue guidance on the data standards established under subparagraph (A) to Federal agencies not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2012.
‘(ii) AGENCIES- Not later than 1 year after the date on which the guidance under clause (i) is issued, each Federal agency shall collect, report, and maintain data in accordance with the data standards established under subparagraph (A).
OK, I have a confession to make: I was a lawyer for ten years and reading this sort of thing is second nature to me. Haven’t practiced law in decades but I still read legal stuff for entertainment. 😉
First, read section A and write down the types of data you would have to collect for each of those items.
Don’t list the agencies/organizations you would have to contact, you probably don’t have enough paper in your office for that task.
Second, read section B and notice that the Secretary of the Treasury has one (1) years to issue guidance for all the data you listed under Section A.
That means gathering, analyzing, testing and designing a standard for all that data, most of which is unknown. Even to the GAO.
And, if they meet that one (1) year deadline, the various agencies have only one (1) year to comply with the guidance from the Secretary of the Treasury.
Do I need to comment on the likelihood of success?
As far as the Secretary of the Treasury, what happens if they don’t meet the one year deadline? Do you see any penalties?
Assuming some guidance emerges, what happens to any Federal agency that does not comply? Any penalties for failure? Any incentives to comply?
My reading is:
- Secretary of the Treasury has one (1) year to design a common data format for unknown financial data in Federal agencies.
- Federal agencies have one (1) year to comply with the common data format from the Secretary of the Treasure.
- No penalties or bonuses for the Secretary of the Treasury.
- No penalties or bonuses for Federal agencies failing to comply.
- No funding for the Secretary of the Treasury to carry out the assigned duties.
- No funding for Federal agencies to carry out the assigned duties.
Do you disagree with that reading of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act)?
My analysis of that starting point appears in Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) [DOA]
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