Dear Director Young,

This January, the Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act passed with strong, bipartisan support as part of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283). We write to you, as organizations who support the common sense reforms in this important law, to ask for an update on your progress on taking important and necessary steps to implement the law.

As you know, the Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act calls upon the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to create a public inventory of federal programs and provide for regular updates to the information. This law builds on a requirement first passed into law a decade ago as part of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) Modernization Act of 2010.

There is broad agreement that the federal government should have an inventory of federal programs, to help policymakers evaluate the purposes and objectives of programs and to assess their value and success. To achieve this goal, the Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act included a requirement for OMB to submit a plan for implementing the law to Congress within 180 days.

As you know, this plan must include a discussion of how OMB will leverage existing data sources, avoid duplication or overlapping information, and address any gaps in the information available. OMB was also asked to make recommendations for how to display this data and how to incorporate the information required under the statute. Lastly the plan must include a proposal for a pilot program to develop and implement the inventory and engage with stakeholders.

As civil society organizations dedicated to making federal government agencies more accessible and accountable to the public, we would very much like to engage with your Office to ensure the Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act is implemented on time and as Congress intended. As we begin this engagement, an update on OMB’s implementation plan would be most welcome.

We thank you for your consideration of our request, and we stand ready to work with you.

Sincerely,

Protect Democracy
National Taxpayers Union
Demand Progress
FreedomWorks
Lincoln Network
Project on Government Oversight
R Street Institute
Taxpayers for Common Sense

Featured Publications