E-government fund could be cut, group warns

By Alice Lipowicz

| March 23, 2011

Transparency advocates said open government would be crimped if Congress follows through on proposed bills to reduce the e-government fund to $2 million in fiscal 2011, from $34 million in 2010.

The $2 million figure for e-government is included in both the fiscal 2011 budget bill passed by the House in February and in a separate fiscal 2011 budget bill under consideration by the Senate this month, Sunlight said. Meanwhile, under ongoing legislation, fiscal 2010 spending levels are maintained for ongoing spending.

Federal transparency programs that include Data.gov and USASpending.gov would have their budgets drop sharply during the next six months under the fiscal 2011 budget packages in Congress, an advocacy group said today.

The General Services Administration is requesting $34 million for the Electronic Government Fund for fiscal 2012, the same level as fiscal 2010.

But that $34 million would be reduced to $2 million for the remainder of the fiscal year under two separate pieces of fiscal 2011 budget legislation, according to the Sunlight Foundation, a transparency advocacy group.

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Transparency advocates said open government would be crimped if Congress follows through on proposed bills to reduce the e-government fund to $2 million in fiscal 2011, from $34 million in 2010.