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Transparency with Your Tax Dollars

Washington, D.C., April 27, 2023
I just reintroduced a bill in the House to help shed some more light on where your tax dollars are spent. It’s called the COST Act, which stands for “Cost Openness and Spending Transparency.” This bill will force the public disclosure of how federal dollars are distributed. Here’s how it works:
 
As we all know, the federal government relies on hundreds of companies, non-profits, academic institutions, and other entities to implement a wide variety of programs and projects. Under current law, entities that receive funding from some federal agencies are required to publicly disclose how those dollars are used.
 
However, there are two problems. First, the current law only applies to the Departments of Labor, Defense, Health & Human Services, Education, and related agencies. And second, the law is largely disregarded by many recipients of taxpayer funds.
 
The COST Act would improve this by:
  • Expanding disclosure requirements to funds distributed by all federal agencies, not just the four listed above.
  • Strengthening the reporting mandate to require that both federal agencies and the entities receiving taxpayer dollars must publicly disclose the percentage and dollar amount being financed with federal funds.
 
Given the trend of irresponsible spending and rapidly rising national debt, we need to make sure the entities receiving your taxpayer dollars are accountable and transparent with that money.