Do more with less — but how do you get there if you don’t know what you’re spending in the first place. That is one of the big challenges facing federal agencies. In fact, they’ve been facing that challenge for some time. The House of Representatives has approved a bill requiring the government to clearly show how and where taxpayers’ money is being spent.
The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2012, or DATA Act, would requires each person, state, local, or tribal government, or any government corporation (recipient) that receives appropriated funds, either directly or through a subgrant or subcontract at any tier, to report at least once quarterly each receipt and use of such funds.
Michael Wood is the Executive Director at the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. He told Chris Dorobek on the DorobekINSIDER Program what’s actually in the DATA Act.
We’ve compiled a whole list of resources on the new DATA Act:
- For a DATA Act. overview and to track it’s progress
- Congressional response to the DATA Act
- What the DATA Act will mean for states
- How much the DATA Act will cost
Do you think the new DATA Act will help or hurt government?
What I’ve found is that reporting bogs down organizations from getting their real work done. In fact, I used to consult for a non-profit that refused to go after certain grants because they knew the monthly reporting for it was onerous. They needed the money, but they needed the time more. 🙂