Earlier today, the Recovery Board released the list of Recovery Act recipients who did not file during the second reporting period.   According to the Board, recipients of 1,036 Recovery Act awards failed to file during this quarter, which was from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2009. That number represents a whopping 76 percent decline from the first reporting cycle, which saw 4,359 missing award reports, and is less than one percent of all the award reports. Equally good news is that of the 1,036 missing reports, only 389 were from "repeat offenders," or recipients who failed to file in both quarters.

There’s no time like the holidays – when packages are wrapped up tight with paper only to be torn apart – to talk about paperwork. That’s why OMB Watch has submitted to the White House comments on improving implementation of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

Sean noted earlier today that the Obama Administration released the Open Government Directive this morning. It will have far-reaching implications for government transparency generally, but the directive focuses on federal spending transparency, specifically mentioning Recovery Act transparency as a critical venue for federal government openess.

The open government directive is scheduled to be released at 11am on Dec. 8.   The announcement will be made in a live webcast hosted by US CIO Vivek Kundra and US CTO Aneesh Chopra.  There will be a live forum following the announcement so that citizens may give feedback and ask questions.  Please watch the live announcement here or on the White House website and check back with the OMB Watch blog for more analysis.  Dowload the directive here [PDF].