The financial and information management subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs held a July 18 hearing on the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590). Support in the Senate for the bill that would create a free, searchable public database of government contracts and grants has surged in recent weeks, helping propel the issue forward. Senators from both parties, along with a wide array of conservative and progressive groups, voiced strong support for the bill, which is co-sponsored by Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Barack Obama (D-IL), John McCain (R-AZ), and Tom Carper (D-DE). "In my view, the reason for such broad support in simple," explained McCain. "People are beginning to realize that the only way to control spending and ensure accountability is to let the American people see exactly how their money is being spent." Speakers stressed the difficulties of finding current data on federal contracts and grants. "There are several different databases of federal spending information, but they all work differently, they are all incomplete, and there is no way to see the full picture of government spending," stated Obama. "And if we as Senators can't get this information, you can be sure that the American people know even less." Coburn said the bill, that moves beyond the minimal requirements under the Freedom of Information Act, would create a "Google for Government Spending." Lauding the bill, he told the hearing that requiring the government to provide information on where taxpayers money is going will reduce government waste and promote accountability and efficiency. Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, while praising the bill, asserted that "such legislation should be perceived as a first step in a much larger effort to enhance transparency in federal spending." Bass suggested revisions to the bill that OMB Watch believes would strengthen its ability to inform the public, while stressing that these concerns should not hold up passage of this important bipartisan effort. Bass's recommendations included measures to increase usability for novice users and opportunities for public feedback, and improve the quality of contract data (which is often incomplete and uninformative). Possibly OMB Watch's most important suggestion was that the bill's requirement to disclose sub-grants be delayed and implemented initially as a smaller pilot project. Because federal grants are so often combined with state resources and then re-granted, the requirement would be next to impossible for grant recipients, and state and local governments to comply with unless new ways of handling intergovernmental fund transfers are developed. Moreover, according to Bass, the federal government should not be passing an unfunded mandate to state and local governments or to smaller nonprofit organizations that receive federal grants. Eric Brenner, the director of the Maryland Governor's Grants Office, was also troubled by the sub-recipient reporting requirement. Coburn announced several changes to the bill at the hearing, including a delay in implementation of the sub-recipient reporting and including a study and a pilot project to develop models for implementation. Brenner and Bass both indicated that these changes moved the sub-recipient provisions in the right direction. Additional support for the bill came from Mark Tapscott, editorial page editor of the Washington Examiner, who testified that the government database would be a valuable source of information to journalists, who would in turn help foster a more participatory democracy. "I have no doubt there will be many, perhaps hundreds of blogs created specifically to analyze and track federal spending within specific issue areas and industries," stated Tapscott. "The result will be a vastly more well-informed citizenry, a public policy debate informed by more accurate and extensive knowledge of government policies and programs and a more effective targeting of our society's resources." The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee is expected to mark up the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590) later this week, and Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) has agreed to co-sponsor the bill. In fact, new co-sponsors are being added almost daily. The bill has found support in a number of senators rumored to be presidential contenders beyond McCain and Obama. For example, Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Bill Frist (R-TN) Evan Bayh (D-IN), and George Allen (R-VA) are now among the growing roster of co-sponsors. The House has already passed a bill (H.R. 5060) co-sponsored by Reps. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Tom Davis (R-VA), that would provide public access to information about federal financial assistance (loans and grants) but none about federal contracts. Each of the witnesses in last week's Senate hearing, including Coburn, in turn, criticized this approach. Meanwhile, OMB Watch is constructing a database that will provide federal contracts and grants data in a publicly searchable format. The online resource will be available for public use beginning in October of this year.