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This was equivalent to doubling domestic discretionary spending over the following year.

Since 2009, the public has been able to track the outlay of more than $275 billion in federal contracts, grants, and loans as a result of the unprecedented transparency and accountability provisions included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), part of the federal economic stimulus program.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included unprecedented provisions to disclose how more than $275 billion in grants, contracts, and loans were spent under the Act.  These requirements fell not only on federal agencies but also the recipients and sub-recipients of these monies.  In many cases, state governments were the focal point for collecting and reporting this information.  How did states respond?  Did this increased transparency change how states managed their own monies as well as federal dollars?  Are there lessons for future transpa

While there are debates as to whether the Recovery Act saved the economy or not, the one thing that has not been in the headlines was the way federal agency leaders implemented more than 200 programs that were used to distribute the money. 

Historically, spending under stimulus legislation tended to peak after a recession was over, oftentimes creating inflation instead of jobs. To avoid this, the Recovery Act man­dated tight timeframes, with 70 percent of the money required to be spent within 17 months to generate jobs. There was significant concern that this rapid spending might result in an estimated $50 billion in waste, fraud, or abuse. Accordingly, there were stringent transparency and accountability requirements embedded in the law.

What Do We Mean by Big Things?

In January of 2009, passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R. 1) was the most immediate legislative priority for the incoming Obama administration. The need for speed in enacting the bill was driven by the increasing severity of the economic crisis that came to be known as “The Great Recession.” In fact, as additional data for the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 became available during early 2009, the sense of urgency increased. The recession was worse than the administration’s economic team had realized.

For over 75 years the U.S. Social Security Administration, or SSA, has touched the lives of virtually every American, whether it is after the loss of a loved one, at the onset of a disability, or during the transition from work to retirement.  

As time has gone on, the gathering of performance data has become increasingly common. But there’s still a major hole. Even entities that produce carefully prepared performance reports often don’t use them in the legislative process. More commonly they are used within agencies to make managerial improvements. But when it comes time to shifting policy direction or debating funding, measures are all too often ignored.