It looks like momentum has built for the reformers for openness in government, especially appropriations. One day after Senator Bill Frist pushed through S.2590, the Coburn-Obama bill establishing a on-line, comprehensive, searchable database for all federal spending, the two chambers of Congress have agreed on a final version of the bill. House Majority Whip John Boehner has agreed to schedule a vote next week, according to this release from Senator Tom Coburn's office:

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.), U.S. Senators Tom Coburn (Okla.), Barack Obama (Ill.), and Tom Carper (Del.), and Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis (Va.) today announced that they have reached agreement on legislation to increase accountability and transparency by establishing a public database to track federal grants and contracts.

House Majority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) announced he plans to schedule the agreed-upon language for House floor consideration next week.

"This process has focused on enhancing the accountability and transparency in the federal budget process," Blunt, Boehner, and Davis said. "The federal government awards approximately $300 billion in grants to roughly 30,000 different organizations. Each year, roughly one million contracts exceed the $25,000 reporting threshold. We need to be sure that money is spent wisely. Our legislation creates a transparent system for reviewing these expenditures so that Congress, the press, and the American public have the information they need to conduct proper oversight of the use of our tax dollars. The package we've agreed to move requires the Administration to establish searchable databases for both grants and contracts."

"I'm pleased that the House leadership agreed with us that all federal spending should be accessible through this website. It doesn't matter if it's a grant, an earmark, or a contract, this legislation will allow the public to know how their tax dollars are being spent," said Sen. Obama

"This bill is a small but significant step toward changing the culture in Washington. Only by fostering a culture of openness, transparency and accountability will Congress come together to address the mounting fiscal challenges that threaten our future prosperity. The group that deserves credit for passing this bill, however, is not Congress, but the army of bloggers and concerned citizens who told Congress that transparency is a just demand for all citizens, not a special privilege for political insiders. Their remarkable effort demonstrates that our system of government does work when the people take the reins of government and demand change," Dr. Coburn said.

"I'm pleased that we've been able to work out an agreement to let this important legislation move to a vote in the House," said Sen. Carper. "If we're going to hold the federal government accountable for its performance, then we need to empower the public with basic information about who's receiving federal dollars and what's being done with them. This bill will shed some much-needed light on the activities of most federal agencies, allowing the public to decide for themselves whether their tax dollars are well spent."

On June 21, the House unanimously passed HR 5060, the Blunt-Davis grants database bill. The Senate unanimously passed S 2590, the Coburn-Obama grants and contracts database bill, yesterday.

So what does this mean? It avoids the potentially lengthy conference process, which would have been hard-pressed to complete their work before the end of this session. Assuming the House passes the bill with the modified language next week, the Senate will have to just give it one more voice vote before it goes to the President for approval. If I recall correctly, this would go immediately to a floor vote, if one is required at all.

Many people had hands in this effort. When the President signs the bill, we will all high-five each other, and deservedly so. Until then, we need to make sure we maintain our focus and our pressure to ensure that the bill does not get overlooked in the busy legislative schedule before the election.

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