News
Aug 16 2006
Transparency bill subjected to secrecy
A bill to promote government transparency faces an uncertain future because of a far-from-transparent hold placed upon it in the Senate.
An unknown number of senators have blocked legislation to create a public, searchable Web site of all federal grants and contracts. Senate rules permit any senator to anonymously block consideration of a bill on the floor, effectively killing the measure.
“Hopefully the person or persons blocking it will realize it’s important to promote transparency and not secrecy in government,” said John Hart, spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., the bill’s sponsor.
Supporters of the measure had hoped to bring it to the Senate floor before lawmakers left Washington for the August recess. Hart noted that the bill has a bipartisan list of prominent co-sponsors including: Senate President Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and possible presidential hopefuls Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The bill was approved July 27 by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The House approved a similar measure in June, but its version of the database would include information only on grants. Hart said sponsors in the Senate are working with House members to iron out this difference. He said they’re optimistic an agreement will be reached soon.
Dave Marin, spokesman for the House bill’s sponsor, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., said a grants database would be a good start.
“The reality is that providing useful data on grants to the general public is something that the federal government should have been doing for some time, and delaying public access to this data by tying it to contracts will only serve those wishing to keep the public in the dark,” he said.
If the measure is approved, the Office of Management and Budget would likely tap one or more agencies to set up the system.
OMB spokeswoman Andrea Wuebker said the administration has long supported making federal grant and contract data publicly accessible.
“OMB’s goal is to ensure this information can be easily searched at a single location online, and we support these efforts to make government resources work more effectively for our taxpayers,” she said.
An unknown number of senators have blocked legislation to create a public, searchable Web site of all federal grants and contracts. Senate rules permit any senator to anonymously block consideration of a bill on the floor, effectively killing the measure.
“Hopefully the person or persons blocking it will realize it’s important to promote transparency and not secrecy in government,” said John Hart, spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., the bill’s sponsor.
Supporters of the measure had hoped to bring it to the Senate floor before lawmakers left Washington for the August recess. Hart noted that the bill has a bipartisan list of prominent co-sponsors including: Senate President Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and possible presidential hopefuls Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. The bill was approved July 27 by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The House approved a similar measure in June, but its version of the database would include information only on grants. Hart said sponsors in the Senate are working with House members to iron out this difference. He said they’re optimistic an agreement will be reached soon.
Dave Marin, spokesman for the House bill’s sponsor, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., said a grants database would be a good start.
“The reality is that providing useful data on grants to the general public is something that the federal government should have been doing for some time, and delaying public access to this data by tying it to contracts will only serve those wishing to keep the public in the dark,” he said.
If the measure is approved, the Office of Management and Budget would likely tap one or more agencies to set up the system.
OMB spokeswoman Andrea Wuebker said the administration has long supported making federal grant and contract data publicly accessible.
“OMB’s goal is to ensure this information can be easily searched at a single location online, and we support these efforts to make government resources work more effectively for our taxpayers,” she said.
