III.B.5: USASpending.gov
Provide full disclosure to the public of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds. Other Information:
The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (S. 2590) is an Act of Congress that requires the full disclosure
to the public of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2007. The purpose of
the Act is to provide the public with information about how their tax dollars are spent in greater detail in order to build
public trust in government and credibility in the professionals who use these dollars. The Act requires a single searchable
web site, accessible by the public for free that includes the following information for each federal award: 1. the name of
the entity receiving the award; 2. the amount of the award; 3. information on the award including transaction type, funding
agency, etc; 4. the location of the entity receiving the award; 5. a unique identifier of the entity receiving the award.
Federal awards include grants, sub-grants, loans, awards, cooperative agreements and other forms of financial assistance as
well as contracts, subcontracts, purchase orders, task orders, and delivery orders. The legislation does not require inclusion
of individual transactions below $25,000 or credit card transactions before October 1, 2008. The searchable web site USAspending.gov
was launched in December 2007, and is maintained by the Office of Management and Budget. The site provides citizens the ability
to look at contracts, grants, loans, and other types of spending across many agencies. The data available on USAspending.gov
is provided by the Federal Assistance Awards Data System (FAADS) and the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS). The majority
of grant, loan and some procurement data are also submitted by agencies. An updated version of the USAspending.gov Guidance
was issued on June 1, 2009; which defines award reporting requirements necessary to comply with both the Federal Funding Accountability
and Transparency Act (FFATA) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). The updated guidance required
federal agencies to report data on their awards in never-before-required timeliness and detail. In June 2009, USAspending.gov
began processing agency file submissions twice per month, on the 5th and the 20th, instead of once per month. Data on the
web site is generally refreshed in the first and third week of every month. The latest guidance is available at the following
link: M-09- 19, Guidance on Data Submission under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA).
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