PRESS RELEASE
-For Immediate Release-
December 13, 2007

Contact: Brian Gumm, 202-234-8494, bgumm@ombwatch.org

OMB Watch Applauds Important Step Forward for Government Transparency

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2007—OMB Watch applauds the White House Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) launch of USASpending.gov, a new searchable website of federal contracts and financial assistance. USASpending.gov was created to meet the mandates of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (Transparency Act) and is based on OMB Watch's groundbreaking FedSpending.org software platform.

Since Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Barack Obama (D-IL) shepherded the Transparency Act through Congress in late 2006, OMB has demonstrated great commitment to providing an accessible database of federal spending in a simple, easy-to-use interface. Though there were many speed bumps along the way, OMB worked diligently to ensure USASpending.gov was launched before the Jan. 1, 2008, deadline set by the Transparency Act.

"USASpending.gov is an important step forward for federal government transparency," said Gary D. Bass, Executive Director of OMB Watch. "OMB Watch hopes that OMB will demonstrate the same level of commitment maintaining the site and pursuing new features and data improvements that they showed in getting USASpending.gov ready for launch."

The successful launch of USASpending.gov is not the end of the road, however. In late November, OMB Watch challenged OMB and Congress to start work on the following:

1. Expand federal spending information to include content about the award, data about contractor and grantee performance and their compliance with laws and regulations, and other information about government subsidies


2. Tie federal spending data with other disparate data sets such as Census information or campaign contribution data so that we can see that funds are being used properly


3. Expand search capabilities and the user experience by providing such services as mapping and tools to combine federal assistance and contracts or conduct other enhanced searches

Bass added, "These areas all need more attention from OMB and Congress. Being able to pull all these datasets together in a useful, constructive way would create a set of powerful accountability tools that would be of great benefit to the American people."

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OMB Watch is a nonprofit watchdog organization dedicated to promoting government accountability, citizen participation in public policy decisions, and the use of fiscal and regulatory policy to serve the public interest.