Open government groups in United States want e-Gov fund restored

A coalition of transparency and good government groups wrote to the leadership of the House Appropriations Committee's Financial Services subpanel urging them to restore funding for site such as USASpending.gov, Data.gov and the IT Dashboard.

Good mobilising job lead by OMB Watch.

See their Letter to Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government.

See their Press release.

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OPEN GOVERNMENT GROUPS WANT E-GOV FUND RESTORED
By Gautham Nagesh - 06/13/11 02:31 PM ET, The Hill

The groups, which include OMB Watch, the Sunlight Foundation and the New America Foundation ask the lawmakers to restore funding for the Electronic Government (E-Gov) Fund, which they argue has produced projects that have increased the government's efficiency and transparency.

A budget agreement reached earlier this year slashed funding for fiscal year 2011 from $34 to $8 million, jeopardizing many of the sites' futures. The groups argue that a failure to restore funding could end up costing the government more money in the long run.

“These sites are critical tools for identifying waste and inefficiencies,” said Craig Jennings, Director of Federal Fiscal Policy at OMB Watch.

“Americans are looking for long-term solutions to reduce the deficit, not short-term gimmicks. The E-Gov Fund results in savings far above its cost. Cutting the E-Gov Fund may be penny-wise, but it’s pound-foolish.”

However, the situation is complicated by a pair of new proposals unveiled Monday that would overhaul how federal spending data is published on the Web.

An executive order from President Obama would create a spending transparency board based on the Recovery Board that tracked stimulus spending.

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