House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants Congressional expense reports online so citizens can track member spending. OMB Watch blogger Roger Strother says if it’s done right, it could improve transparency. -DB
OMB Watch
Commentary
June 4, 2009
By Roger Strother
On June 3, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the House’s administrative manager to put Congressional quarterly expense reports online as soon as possible.
These reports, traditionally available only in the form of three-volume bound sets, contain expense data for member spending.
The letter from Pelosi can be found on the Speaker’s blog, The Gavel, and represents and unprecedented level of Congressional transparency…if they do it right.
On the Sunlight Foundation blog, John Wonderlich makes an interesting parallel to how this move is being made right after a recent scandal in British Parliament where MPs are being investigated for purchasing personal items on the public dime.
While this moves seems positive, I’m suspicious of whether or not the House will do it in a way that’s accurate and easily accessible to the public. For instance, you can compare USASpending.gov to OMB Watch’s FedSpending.org which use the same data. However, FedSpending is often much more accurate, detailed, and up-to-date.
I’m also worried about what this means for the future of Legistorm, a not-for-profit service that already posts similar information. This likely means the Legistorm has new competition and will have to step up its game.
I’m sure Congress will muck up the process leaving room for Legistorm to do a better job. It also remains to be seen if Legistorm includes additional data which Congress will leave out.
Copyright 2009 OMB Watch