Bill Sponsor
House Bill 71
115th Congress(2017-2018)
Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act
Active
Active
Passed House on Jan 4, 2017
Overview
Text
Introduced
Jan 3, 2017
Latest Action
Jan 5, 2017
Origin Chamber
House
Type
Bill
Bill
The primary form of legislative measure used to propose law. Depending on the chamber of origin, bills begin with a designation of either H.R. or S. Joint resolution is another form of legislative measure used to propose law.
Bill Number
71
Congress
115
Policy Area
Government Operations and Politics
Government Operations and Politics
Primary focus of measure is government administration, including agency organization, contracting, facilities and property, information management and services; rulemaking and administrative law; elections and political activities; government employees and officials; Presidents; ethics and public participation; postal service. Measures concerning agency appropriations and the budget process may fall under Economics and Public Finance policy area.
Sponsorship by Party
House Votes (1)
Senate Votes (0)
checkPassed on January 4, 2017
Status
Passed
Type
Voice Vote
Voice Vote
A vote in which the presiding officer states the question, then asks those in favor and against to say "Yea" or "Nay," respectively, and announces the result according to his or her judgment. The names or numbers of senators voting on each side are not recorded.
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H63-64)
Summary

Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act

This bill requires that the website of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) include a program inventory that identifies each program of the federal government for which there is more than $1 million in annual budget authority.

For programs identified in such inventory for which there is more than $1 million and not more than $10 million in annual budget authority (smaller programs), the inventory must include:

  • an identification of the program activities that are aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated as part of identifying programs;
  • for each such program activity, the amount of funding for the current fiscal year and the previous two fiscal years;
  • an identification of the statutes that authorize the program and any major regulations specific to the program;
  • a description of the individuals served by a program and beneficiaries who received financial assistance under a program for the most recent fiscal year; and
  • links to any evaluation, assessment, or program performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector General, or the Government Accountability Office released during the preceding five years.

For programs identified in such inventory for which there is more than $10 million in annual budget authority (larger programs), the inventory must include:

  • an identification of the program activities that are aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated as part of identifying programs;
  • for each program activity, the amount of funding for the current fiscal year and the previous two fiscal years;
  • an estimate of the amount of funding for the program;
  • an identification of the statutes that authorize the program and any major regulations specific to the program;
  • a description and estimate of the number of individuals served by a program and beneficiaries who received financial assistance under a program for the most recent fiscal year;
  • a description of the federal employees who administer the program and other individuals whose salary is paid in full or in part by the federal government through a grant, contract, cooperative agreement, or another form of financial award or assistance;
  • links to any evaluation, assessment, or program performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector General, or the Government Accountability Office released during the preceding five years; and
  • financial and other information for each program activity required to be reported under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.

The OMB shall: (1) archive and preserve the information included in the program inventory; and (2) annually publish the total amount of undisbursed grant funding remaining in grant accounts for which the period of availability to the grantee has expired.

The bill requires the OMB, by June 30, 2018, to: (1) prescribe guidance to implement this Act, and (2) issue guidance to assist agencies in identifying how the program activities used in budget or appropriations accounts correspond with programs identified in the program inventory required by this Act. The OMB may: (1) issue guidance to agencies to ensure that programs are presented at a similar level of detail across agencies and are not duplicative or overlapping; (2) exempt from the requirements of this Act, based on an analysis of the costs of implementation, agencies that are not required to have a chief financial officer and that have not more than $10 million in budget authority; and (3) extend the Act's implementation deadline by up to one year.

Implementation of the requirements in this bill must be completed not later than June 30, 2019.

Text (3)
January 5, 2017
January 4, 2017
January 3, 2017
Actions (9)
01/05/2017
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
01/04/2017
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
01/04/2017
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H63-64)
01/04/2017
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.(text: CR H63-64)
01/04/2017
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 71.
01/04/2017
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H63-65)
01/04/2017
Mr. Chaffetz moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.
01/03/2017
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
01/03/2017
Introduced in House
Public Record
Record Updated
Jan 11, 2023 1:34:15 PM