The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2021 contains a provision that would direct federal agencies to report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the cost and performance of their programs as part of efforts to improve transparency, Government Executive reported Monday.
Under The Taxpayers Right to Know Act provision in the FY 2021 NDAA, the submitted data to OMB will be combined to create an inventory of federal programs' spending information.
“This information would be updated regularly and posted online in a searchable format. The [act] will allow policy makers to identify areas of duplication and overlap to eliminate waste and inefficiency and provide transparency to taxpayers about how their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent,” the office of Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., said in a Dec. 9th statement.
Cooper worked with Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., to introduce the measure in the House, while Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., led the move to introduce the bill in the upper chamber.
The Senate on Friday passed the $740.5B NDAA days after the House voted 335-78 to approve the annual defense policy bill.
