(Washington, D.C.) – Congressmen Glenn Grothman (R-WI) and Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) introduced H.R. 7184, the CBO Data Access Act, on February 1, 2024. This week, the House passed the Senate companion version, an identical bill, by unanimous consent. This bipartisan initiative will benefit taxpayers by enhancing the efficiency of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) process behind projecting the fiscal impact of proposed legislation. A transparent and efficient federal government is crucial to best serve the American people, and this bill streamlines CBO to provide taxpayers with more timely information on the cost of legislative proposals. Specifically, the legislation exempts CBO from the Privacy Act, eliminating procedural delays that hinder the CBO’s ability to access vital data for baseline budget projections, economic assessments, cost estimates, and reports.
“I am proud to have introduced the House companion to the CBO Data Access Act, H.R. 7184, alongside my democrat colleague, Representative Mfume. I would also like to thank Senators Peters and Collins for their work on this legislation,” said Congressman Grothman. “This bicameral and bipartisan effort demonstrates the shared recognition across party lines of the importance of ensuring that CBO has the tools it needs to provide Congress with the best possible data and analysis.”
“The bipartisan legislation Congressman Grothman and I co-led in the U.S. House will remove a barrier that too often hinders the Congressional Budget Office from carrying out its mission of providing timely cost estimates, and ensures our federal government is fiscally responsible. Simultaneously, privacy protections will remain in place when the CBO receives necessary agency information pertinent to their work, safeguarding personal information utilized by CBO to improve transparency in government operation,” said Congressman Mfume. “As the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce, I will always fight for clear-cut communication of how taxpayer funds are being utilized to best serve the American people. I am pleased that this compelling legislation will now be sent to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.”
Background Information
The Senate version of the CBO Data Access Act, S.1549, introduced by Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Susan Collins (R-ME), passed on June 22, 2024. The CBO Data Access Act would accelerate the speed and improve the confidence with which CBO can assess the budgetary impact of proposed legislation. The bill provides CBO with an exemption to the Privacy Act, which eliminates an indeterminate procedural delay in CBO’s ability to access information maintained by federal agencies. Access to agencies’ data is critical for CBO to fulfill its mission and provide baseline budget projections, economic projections, cost estimates, and reports. This bill authorizes agencies to disclose records in their systems to the Director of CBO (or any authorized CBO representative) without requiring prior written consent of the individual to whom the record pertains under the Privacy Act. When CBO is required to enter into agency data sharing agreements, negotiations can be lengthy and delay CBO’s ability to include that data in its analyses. Agencies’ large data sets, which may contain personal information, can improve the quality and accuracy of CBO models to estimate budget impacts of legislative proposals. In 2022, agency data helped CBO produce 760 cost estimates, thousands of requests for technical assistance, and 83 reports, working papers, testimonies, and interactive tools. More efficient access to data can improve the quality of CBO’s baseline projections and reports. More evidence can enable more sophisticated CBO analyses, creating more robust data baselines and increasing confidence in CBO’s generation of cost estimates. The bill will provide clarity for agency information managers that CBO is authorized to receive personal information otherwise protected by the Privacy Act and confidence that CBO maintains the same confidentiality protections as applied to the data-sharing agency itself. As a result, CBO will spend less time negotiating with an agency for data and improve CBO’s analyses.
