Two bills may soon face off in the Senate on how best to provide the public with information on how the government spends taxpayer dollars. On April 6, Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Barack Obama (D-IL), Tom Carper (D-DE) and John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590). The bill requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to make information on federal contracts and grants publicly accessible through a free, searchable website. Meanwhile, the "Website for American Taxpayers to Check and Help Deter Out-of-control Government Spending Act" (S. 2718), called the WATCHDOGS Act, offered by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) advertising itself as a similar effort has been introduced. The WATCHDOGS Act would establish an imbalanced set of reporting requirements, with grantees required to report more information than contractors. Legislation to increase transparency for federal contracts and grants is needed because the public currently lacks access to timely, accurate information about individual contracts, grants, and other forms of government financial assistance. While the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS)--Next Generation, provides public access to some information on government contracts, it has been widely criticized for its inadequacies. The Census Bureau also provides more complete information about other forms of federal financial assistance through the Federal Assistance Awards Data System (FAADS). Unfortunately, though, the system is not searchable. The Census Bureau also publishes an annual Consolidated Federal Funds Report (CFFR), which puts together information from the FPDS-NG, FAADS, and other sources of information to provide summary data about federal spending. For example, using the CFFR you can learn that, in FY 2004, federal government expenditures can be broken down as follows: Category Retirement & Disability Other Direct Payments Grant Awards Procurement Contracts Salaries and Wages Amount (in billions) $667.0 $469.8 $460.1 $339.7 $225.6 Percentage 30.8% 21.7% 21.3% 15.7% 10.4% The CFFR does not provide information about individual contracts and grants, however, so data can not be sorted to reveal trends in government spending or to suggest ways to foster greater government accountability. The necessity of public access to information in this form was apparent in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when tracking government spending on reconstruction proved nearly impossible. At the time, more than 50 organizations joined OpenTheGovernment.org in signing a letter calling on President Bush to put all information about Katrina-related spending on the Internet. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act responds to this situation by requiring the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that the public has access free of charge to a searchable website providing information on federal financial assistance, including federal contracts, by Jan. 1, 2007. The website would allow the public to search for information about individual contracts, grants, loans, and other forms of financial assistance, including by name of company or organization, amounts, year, the place of performance, congressional districts, federal program, and more. Information would be posted to the website no later than 30 days after the financial award. The website would not contain details about credit card transactions or minor purchases. Beginning Oct. 1, 2007, the bill requires the disclosure of subcontracts and subgrants. How the OMB will implement the disclosure of subcontracts and subgrants is uncertain, since there is no established method for collecting it. While the WATCHDOGS Act also requires OMB to ensure that there is a searchable website allowing public access to information provided by contractors and grantees about the federal funds they receive, the bill discriminates against grantees by requiring more stringent reporting requirements. For instance, under the bill, federal grantees must disclose the name, address, and social security number of each officer and employee earning more than $50,000 per year, as well as directors of the organization. Contractors need not disclose similar information. Additionally, the bill calls for disclosure of expenditures on various activities including lobbying and, oddly, decorating by federal grantees, but would not require it of contractors. The bill appears less focused on accountability and more on creating a hostile environment for federal grantees, who tend to be nonprofit organizations. Also problematic, the WATCHDOGS bill would federalize a contractor or grantee if the entity receives 10 percent of its business expenditures or annual budget from federal funds. In doing this, the contractor or grantee would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and to laws that apply to government employees regarding travel, such as the allowable per diem for housing and meals or mileage allowances. For more information on key components of both bills, see OMB Watch's analysis. Coburn and Obama initially sought to attach their bill to lobby reform legislation, but the amendment was rejected at the last second as non-germane. Joined by Carper and McCain, the four co-sponsors now hope to move the bill either as free-standing legislation or as an amendment, possibly to budget reform legislation expected to move in the Senate this summer. As a first step, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where Coburn chairs a key subcommittee, will likely mark-up the bill in June. The WATCHDOGS Act lacks the bipartisan support of the Coburn-Obama-Carper-McCain bill; it's not structured as a neutral government accountability bill.