Section 1512 of the Recovery Act requires  recovery fund recipients to report quarterly on Recovery Act-related  spending. Transparency Efforts Under Way Focus On Standardizing Data to Integrate Systems and Enhance Spending Oversight

		With Its Role Limited to Providing Strategic Direction, the GAT Board Is Leveraging Ongoing Agency Initiatives for Implementation

The GAT Board’s role is to provide strategic direction for enhancing  federal spending transparency. These initiatives include efforts to modernize systems or improve agency  management, designed to improve existing business processes as well  as improve data transparency. The GAT Board’s initial plans largely  focus on efforts at the federal level and some progress has been made to  bring greater consistency to award identifiers. Initial efforts are focused on identifying approaches to  standardize contract and grant data elements. As Transparency Efforts Get Under Way, Opportunities Remain to Incorporate Lessons Learned from the Recovery Act

The GAT Board’s mandated responsibilities include working with the  Recovery Board to build on lessons learned and applying approaches  developed by the Recovery Board to new efforts to enhance the  transparency of federal spending. As discussed above, the GAT Board,  the Recovery Board, OMB, and other federal agencies have initiatives  under way to improve federal spending transparency. A lack of uniform standards could also increase the burden on federal  fund recipients. Moreover, collecting data that already exists in agency award systems is  also inefficient and burdensome to recipients. For example, initial guidance in February  2009 began to lay out information that would be reported on  Recovery.gov, and the steps needed to meet reporting requirements,  such as including recipient reporting requirements in grant awards and  contracts. However, mechanisms for obtaining  input from non-federal stakeholders are limited to the public rule-making  process. Although the GAT Board’s mandate includes a requirement for it to  work with the Recovery Board to apply the approaches developed by  the latter across the federal government, the extent to which the work  of the ROC is being incorporated into the GAT Board’s effort to  develop approaches for using data analytics to improve oversight is  unclear. Conclusions

Ensuring the transparency of more than $3.7 trillion in federal spending  annually, including more than $1 trillion awarded through contracts,  grants, and loans, and an additional $1 trillion in forgone revenue from tax  expenditures is an important national goal. Moreover, by listening to stakeholders during Recovery Act  implementation, OMB and the Recovery Board heard concerns and made  changes to plans and guidance accordingly. Recommendations for Executive Action

We recommend that the Director of OMB, in collaboration with the  members of the GAT Board, take the following two actions:
Develop a plan to implement comprehensive transparency reform,  including a long-term timeline and requirements for data standards,  such as establishing a uniform award identification system across the  federal government. Increase efforts for obtaining input from stakeholders, including  entities receiving federal funds, to address reporting challenges, and  strike an appropriate balance that ensures the accuracy of the data  without unduly increasing the burden on those doing the reporting. Matter for Congressional Consideration

To ensure effective decision making and the efficient use of resources  dedicated to enhancing the transparency of federal spending data,  Congress should consider legislating transparency requirements and  establish clear lines of authority to ensure that recommended approaches  for improving spending data transparency are implemented across the  federal government. We have provided additional  information on this in the report. For our recommendation on increasing  efforts to obtain stakeholder input as transparency initiatives are  developed, OMB staff agreed that increasing efforts to obtain stakeholder  input was important and pointed to their outreach to date particularly in  seeking stakeholder comments on the grants reform process, which they  said included discussions on standardizing financial information collected  from recipients during the pre-award and post-award phases of the grant  process. However, as we have previously  concluded, given the importance of clear requirements and consistent  leadership for ensuring approaches are institutionalized and sustained  over the long term, legislation will help ensure effective implementation of  comprehensive transparency reform. To accomplish this, we (1) reviewed federal initiatives to  improve the accuracy and availability of federal spending data; and (2)  assessed the extent to which lessons identified by GAO and federal fund  recipients from the operation of Recovery.gov and USAspending.gov are  being addressed by these new transparency initiatives. To address these objectives, we examined data collection and reporting  requirements under FFATA and the Recovery Act, the June 2011  Executive Order that established the GAT Board, Executive Order  13,576, “Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government,”  relevant OMB guidance and memoranda, such as OMB-10-06, Open  Government Directive and Improving Data Quality for USAspending.gov,  and reports outlining action plans and recommendations created by the  GAT Board, the Recovery Board, and other federal entities charged with  developing approaches to improve federal data transparency. Appendix II: Government Accountability and Transparency Board and Work Group Agency Partners

The Government Accountability and Transparency Board (GAT Board) is  composed of the following 11 members designated by the President from  among agency Inspectors General, agency Chief Financial Officers or  Deputy Secretaries, and senior officials from OMB.
Why GAO Did This Study

The federal government spends more than $3.7 trillion annually, with more than $1 trillion awarded through contracts, grants, and loans. Improving transparency of spending is essential to improve accountability. Recent federal laws have required increased public information on federal awards and spending. GAO was asked to review current efforts to improve transparency. This report examines (1) transparency efforts under way and (2) the extent to which new initiatives address lessons learned from the Recovery Act. GAO reviewed relevant legislation, executive orders, OMB circulars and guidance, and previous GAO work, including work on Recovery Act reporting. GAO also interviewed officials from OMB, the GAT Board, and other federal entities; government reform advocates; associations representing fund recipients; and a variety of contract and grant recipients.

What GAO Found

Several federal entities, including the Government Accountability and Transparency Board (GAT Board), the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (Recovery Board), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), have initiatives under way to improve the accuracy and availability of federal spending data. The GAT Board, through its working groups, developed approaches to standardize key data elements to improve data integrity; link financial management systems with award systems to reconcile spending data with obligations; and leverage existing data to help improve oversight. With no dedicated funding, GAT Board plans are incremental and leverage ongoing agency initiatives designed to improve existing business processes as well as improve data transparency. These initiatives are in an early stage, and some progress has been made to bring greater consistency to award identifiers. The GAT Board's mandate is to provide strategic direction, not to implement changes. Further, while these early plans are being developed with input from a range of federal stakeholders, the GAT Board and OMB have not developed mechanisms for obtaining input from non-federal fund recipients.
Lessons from implementing the transparency objectives of the Recovery Act could help inform these new initiatives:
Standardize data to integrate systems and enhance accountability . Similar to the GAT Board's current focus on standardization, the Recovery Board recognized that standardized data would be more usable by the public and the Recovery Board for identifying potential misuse of federal funds. However, reporting requirements under the Recovery Act had to be met quickly. Because agencies did not collect spending data in a consistent manner, the most expedient approach was to collect data from fund recipients, even though similar data already existed in agency systems. Given the longer timeframes to develop current transparency initiatives, OMB and the GAT Board are working toward greater data consistency by focusing on data standards. Their plans, however, do not include long-term steps, such as working toward uniform award identifiers that would improve award tracking with less burden on recipients.
Obtain stakeholder involvement as reporting requirements are developed . During the Recovery Act, federal officials listened to the concerns of recipients and made changes to guidance in response, which helped ensure they could meet those requirements. Without similar outreach under current initiatives, reporting challenges may not be addressed, potentially impairing the data's accuracy and completeness, and increasing burden on those reporting.
Delineate clear requirements and lines of authority for implementing transparency initiatives . Unlike the present efforts to expand spending transparency, the Recovery Act provided OMB and the Recovery Board with clear authority and mandated reporting requirements. Given this clarity, transparency provisions were carried out successfully and on time. Going forward, without clear, legislated authority and requirements, the ability to sustain progress and institutionalize transparency initiatives may be jeopardized as priorities shift over time.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that the Director of OMB, with the GAT Board, develop a long-term plan to implement comprehensive transparency reform, and increase efforts for obtaining stakeholder input to ensure reporting challenges are addressed. Further, Congress should consider legislating transparency requirements and establishing clear authority to implement these requirements to ensure that recommended approaches for improving transparency are carried out across the federal government. The GAT Board, OMB and other cognizant agencies generally concurred with GAO's recommendations and provided further information, which was incorporated into the report as appropriate.