S. 317: Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act

115th Congress · introduced 2017-02-06 · Government Operations and Politics · Latest: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 43.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2017-02-06 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 43. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act

Plain summary

Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act (Sec. 2) This bill requires that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website include an inventory that identifies each federal program for which there is more than $1 million in annual budget authority. For programs for which there is more than $1 million but not more than $10 million in annual budget authority (smaller programs), the inventory must include: an identification of the program activities that are aggregated, disaggregated, or consolidated; for each such program activity, the amount of funding for the current fiscal year and the previous two fiscal years; an identification of the statutes that authorize the program and any major regulations specific to the program; a description of the individuals served by a program and beneficiaries who received financial assistance under a program for the most recent fiscal year; and links to any evaluation, assessment, or program performance reviews by the agency, an Inspector General, or the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released during the preceding five years. For programs for which there is more than $10 million in annual budget authority (larger programs), the inventory must also include specified additional information, including financial information for each program activity required to be reported under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. The OMB shall archive and preserve the program inventory. (Sec. 3) The bill requires the OMB to issue initial guidance to assist agencies in identifying how the program activities used in budget or appropriations accounts correspond with programs identified in the program inventory. The OMB may: (1) issue initial guidance to agencies to ensure that programs are presented at a similar level of detail across agencies and are not duplicative; (2) exempt from the requirements of this bill, based on an analysis of the costs of implementation, agencies that are not required to have a chief financial officer and that have not more than $10 million in budget authority; and (3) based on an analysis of the costs of implementation, extend the bill's implementation deadline (June 30, 2019) in one-year increments and by not more than two years. The Government Accountability Office must report to Congress by five years after this bill's enactment regarding its implementation.

Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to Senate with amendment(s)), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to Senate with amendment(s))

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The strongest published arguments

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] · 11 cosponsors

Cost estimate: CBO cost estimate: S. 317, Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act (2017-04-07)

Cosponsors on this site

Ron Johnson (R-WI), Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH), Steve Daines (R-MT), Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Kennedy (R-LA)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] reported raising $1.2 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (7)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Exemption: A rule that removes certain people, property or activities from a tax or requirement.
Fiscal year: The 12-month period a government uses for its budget. The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30 and is named for the calendar year in which it ends. Most states use July 1 to June 30.
Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.
Statute: A written law passed by a legislature. A statute can be changed by a later law; changing a constitution needs an amendment.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Reported to Senate with amendment(s))
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115s317.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/s>

Record fed-us-cong115-s317 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115