WASHINGTON-Today, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member James Comer applauded the passage of the Congressional Budget Justification (CBJ) Transparency Act (S. 272), which he and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) introduced as H.R. 22 and quickly passed through the House with an overwhelming majority on January 5th of 2021.
The CBJ Transparency Act improves government accountability by requiring federal agencies to post their congressional budget justifications on a centralized, searchable website, including on each agency’s own website. This bill would also direct the Office of Management and Budget to keep an updated list of agencies that are expected to submit budget justifications, the date of their submission to Congress, the date the justification is posted online, and a link to the materials.
“The American people must be in the drivers’ seat when it comes to their government, especially how it plans to spend their money. For too long, the budget process has lurked in the shadows. The Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act, once signed into law, will make the budget process more transparent and accessible to the American people. This commonsense legislation requires all federal agency budget justifications to be located in one centralized, searchable website. This will allow the American people to understand how their taxpayer dollars will be spent and hold the government and its vast bureaucracy accountable. I appreciate the leadership of Congressman Quigley in working with me to quickly pass the House version of this legislation in early January of this year, and I look forward to the President finally signing this legislation into law now that the Senate has acted," said Ranking Member Comer.
“Our constituents should know how Congress is spending their tax dollars. Making the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act the law of the land is one critical step toward making our federal government more transparent and accessible," said Quigley. “I’m thrilled to see this legislation heading to the President’s desk. I hope that providing Americans with access to this information will help rebuild the public’s trust in our government," said Congressman Quigley.
