Number: 117-8
Date: October 18, 2021
President Signs S. 272, the
“Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act of 2021”
On September 24, 2021, the President signed S. 272, the Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act of 2021, which became Public Law 117-40. The bill previously passed the House on August 23, by roll call vote of 423-1 under suspension of rules, and the Senate on June 24, by unanimous consent with an amendment. In general, the law amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, (Public Law 109–282), to require federal agencies (except those with budgets confidential by law such as CIA or other national defense agencies) to post their congressional budget justifications (CJs) on the agency website.1
S. 272 contains the following provisions of interest to SSA:
SEC. 2. Public Availability of Budget Justifications and Appropriations Requests
- Amends the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to require the Secretary of the Treasury to:
- Consult with agency heads with respect to posting budget justification materials2 on the established website;
- Post any budget justification materials for the second fiscal year (FY) after enactment, every FY thereafter, and any prior FYs to the extent practicable;
- Post budget justification materials no later than 2 weeks after date of submission of such information to Congress.
- Excludes budget justification materials, which are confidential, classified3 or exempt from disclosure4.
- Requires OMB to publish on a website, and maintain, a list for each FY of each agency that submits budget justification materials.
- Requires, no later than one year after enactment, the OMB Director (in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury) to establish policies and issue guidance to agencies to ensure budget justification materials will be produced and made available in a uniform, user-friendly format.
SEC. 3. Determination of Budgetary Effects
- No additional funding would be provided to implement the provisions of this bill.
Effective Date
- Unless otherwise stated, the provisions of this bill would be effective upon enactment.
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1 SSA has a website (http://www.ssa.gov/budget) that provides budget justification materials from FY 2008 onward.
2 Annual budget justification materials of an agency submitted in conjunction with the President’s Budget, for which requirements are outlined under 31 U.S.C. §1105(a).
3 National Defense or Foreign Policy (e.g., CIA).
4 Per 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)