WASHINGTON (AFX) - A bill working its way through the Senate proposes creating one Internet site to detail which companies and groups receive the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars federal agencies award annually.
The bill, introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. and Barack Obama, D-Ill., would establish a single public Web site that chronicles all organizations receiving federal funds, including the name and location of each organization, and the amount of federal money received in each of the last 10 fiscal years.
Coburn calls the bill 'Google for government spending,' referring to the ubiquitous online search engine. The concept is simple: greater accountability will follow putting federal financial information out there for all to see, he said.
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590) would publicly disclose all recipients of federal funding, including the $460 billion in grants, $340 billion in contracts, and hundreds of billions in loans, insurance and direct payments made each year. Allocations would be posted within 30 days of the government's award date, the bill proposes.
During a subcommittee hearing on the idea this past week, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., another bill co-sponsor, said the site would justify 'whatever expense is associated with it in the first five minutes' because lawmakers will think twice before appropriating money for certain projects when their constituents can easily review how their tax dollars are being spent.
International Business Machines Corp., Oracle Corp., and Microsoft Corp., could pursue a future contract, along with technology service providers such as KPMG LLP, Electronic Data Systems Corp., and Accenture Ltd, predicts technology analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group in San Jose, Calif.
The bill received bipartisan support in the hearing held by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security, which Coburn chairs.
The bill, originally introduced in April, calls for the Web site to be operating by Jan. 1, assuming it passes and the project is funded, although some analysts question that timetable.
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