Thursday, April 14, 2011
House Republicans and President Barack Obama have demonstrated how much they value the importance of government transparency. As part of their budget compromise averting a federal shutdown, the two sides agreed to slash funding for government information websites by 75%.
The Electronic Government Fund was reduced from $34 million to $8 million, leaving little money to support websites like USASpending.gov and the IT Dashboard that show the American people how Washington is spending tax dollars.
Some government information websites may disappear altogether as a result of the funding cut.
Sam Rosen-Amy of OMBWatch told Government Executive, “At a time when everyone is wondering how the government is spending money, Congress just cut funding for tools that tell you.” Rosen-Amy compared the transparency cuts to trying to save money by cutting IRS enforcement.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
Transparency Websites Hit by Budget Ax (by William Matthews, Government Executive)
Major Cuts for Online Tech Transparency Progs (by Daniel Shuman, Sunlight Foundation)
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