Agency Plans Add Another Element of Accountability to Recovery Act Spending

On May 17, the Obama administration released the next wave of Recovery Act information, this time by posting Agency Recovery Plans on Recovery.gov. These plans, which are mandated by the Recovery Act, include broad, agency-wide plans and program-specific plans on how each federal agency intends to expend its appropriated Recovery Act funds. Like other Recovery Act-related data dissemination, this latest phase in Recovery Act spending transparency marks another move in the right direction but needs some refinement.

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EPA Back in the "Fishbowl"

In a recent memorandum to employees, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlined broad principles of transparency that will govern the agency's interactions with the public. By promising to operate EPA as if it were "in a fishbowl," Administrator Lisa Jackson reinstated a principle many considered ignored by the previous administration. Jackson also announced measures to promote transparency in EPA's economic stimulus activities.

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Recovery Act Transparency in 51 Flavors: A Sample of State Recovery Act Websites

An informal OMB Watch survey of eight state-level Recovery Act websites reveals that the access to and quality of information on Recovery Act expenditures varies widely from state to state.




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Coalition for an Accountable Recovery Submits Comments on Recovery.gov Guidance Memo

On April 17, the Coalition for an Accountable Recovery (CAR) submitted its comments on the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) April 3 memo, "Updated Implementing Guidance for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009." The memo is a supplement to a previous set of guidelines issued Feb. 18 to federal agencies on the implementation of the Recovery Act. CAR notes that OMB’s efforts are laudable and that the guidance is helpful in advancing transparency and accountability with regard to Recovery Act spending. However, the coalition also argues that the guidance still needs modification for meaningful transparency and accountability to be realized.

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Sixth Annual Ridenhour Awards Honor Truth-Telling, Courage

The Sixth Annual Ridenhour Awards were presented April 16 by the Nation Institute and the Fertel Foundation. The awards are presented each year to journalists and whistleblowers in honor of Ron Ridenhour, a former Vietnam veteran who exposed the 1968 massacre at My Lai. The awards are given to those who act to protect the public interest and promote social justice. The 2009 awardees were Thomas Tamm, Bob Herbert, Jane Mayer, and Nick Turse.

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New FOIA Memo, Hot Off the Press

On March 19, the Obama administration issued a new set of guidelines to federal agencies on implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), replacing Bush-era rules that many thought promoted a culture of secrecy in government. Written by Attorney General Eric Holder, the Department of Justice (DOJ) memorandum outlines a spirit of transparency that reflects President Obama’s Jan. 21 assertion, "In the face of doubt, openness prevails."

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Recovery Transparency Meets Mixed Results

Three weeks after President Barack Obama signed into law the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), states have begun to see federal economic stimulus funds move within their borders. Behind the hundreds of billions of dollars soon to follow are some 25 federal departments, agencies, and administrations that are in charge of allocating the funds. In addition to this unprecedented level of emergency spending is a pledge by Obama to "watch the taxpayers' money with more rigor and transparency than ever." The speed at which the administration and some federal agencies have moved is impressive, even as there has been uneven implementation of transparency efforts.

Find out more from the Coalition for an Accountable Recovery

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Stimulus Becomes Law; Implementation Begins

When President Barack Obama signed into law a $787 billion economic stimulus package on Feb. 17, he also approved an unprecedented set of transparency and oversight provisions. The law calls for the establishment of a Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to oversee the disbursement of more than $500 billion in federal cash outlays and a website to publicly track the spending.

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Congress Takes Step Toward Stimulus Transparency

When the Senate took up the $819 billion House-passed economic stimulus package (H.R. 1) the week of Feb. 2, not only did the chamber modify myriad spending and tax measures, but it also altered the bill's transparency and accountability provisions. The Senate's version of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), contains less detail on specific data the Obama administration must provide on stimulus spending. Neither version provides the level of detail that may be needed to collect and disseminate information about the type of jobs that are created or preserved, the wages paid to workers, or information about who may be getting such jobs. The assumption is that the Obama administration, through its Recovery.gov website, will tackle these thorny implementation issues.

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OMB Watch Joins Stimulus Transparency Coalition

OMB Watch has joined more than 30 other groups calling for transparency and accountability requirements in federal recovery efforts, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1). The Coalition for an Accountable Recovery (CAR) is an assembly of organizations and individuals who believe transparency and accountability are essential to ensuring that hundreds of billions of dollars of federal spending is disbursed fairly; spent with minimal waste, fraud, and abuse; and can be assessed as effective or ineffective.

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