2.12 Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (2014)

Enacted to improve the quality and transparency of Federal award data.

On September 26, 2006, Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) was signed into law. (Bureau of the Fiscal Service. About the Data Transparency Program. 6/8/2020.) The legislation required that federal contract, grant, loan, and other financial assistance awards be displayed on a publicly accessible and searchable website to give the American public access to information on how their tax dollars are being spent. On May 9, 2014, DATA Act was signed into law creating the purpose of the DATA Act Team. The legislation expanded FFATA to:

Include all direct agency spending and link federal contract, grant, and loan spending to specific agency programs;
Set government-wide standards for financial data so we can accurately show consistent, reliable, and searchable data;
Simplify reporting, streamline requirements for reporting, and reduce the cost of complying with the requirements, while improving transparency; and
Improve the quality of the data at USAspending.gov by holding agencies accountable.