Houses Passes Bipartisan Hassan-Lankford Legislation to Increase Transparency and Curb Wasteful Spending

WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives this week unanimously passed the bipartisan Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act, introduced by Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and James Lankford (R-OK), that would require the federal government to publicize the details, costs, and performance metrics of government programs. This bipartisan legislation, which would increase transparency and curb wasteful spending, was voted out of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last year.

“By unanimously passing the bipartisan Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act, my colleagues in the House took an important step towards increasing transparency for how Americans’ tax dollars are spent,” Senator Hassan said. “I will continue working with Senator Lankford to pass this fiscally responsible bill in the Senate and help cut wasteful government spending.”

“I applaud the action by the House of Representatives to pass the Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act by voice vote,” said Senator Lankford. “This important bill of mine ensures that we have an inventory of federal programs that can be used for oversight of federal spending to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. Americans deserve greater transparency and accountability of their hard earned taxpayer dollars. I look forward to the Senate passing this bill in the days ahead.”  

The bipartisan Taxpayers Right-to-Know Act directs the Office of Management and Budget to compile details on government programs and the cost to run them, and publish the information online to help the government and taxpayer keep better track of government spending.

As Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management, Senator Hassan is focused on strengthening fiscal responsibility and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. The President recently signed into law bipartisan legislation cosponsored by Senator Hassan to require the Office of Management and Budget and the leading administrator of grant programs to streamline data transparency requirements for grant recipients and ultimately make data collection and dissemination to Congress faster and easier. Additionally, the Senate recently passed bipartisan legislation, cosponsored by Senator Hassan, to help save taxpayer dollars and improve the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s ability to efficiently and effectively respond to natural disasters.

###