Federal Funding / Spending Primer

[HerschelC]

The website is designed to foster a national dialog around Federal Spending. (AWESOME)

However, it doesn't provide much in the way of generating interest from those that may be new to the concepts or efforts. There should be some sort of layman's language primer to the effort in an attempt to engage new citizens and stakeholders in the conversation. This thought occurred to me as I was reading the concept section of new data elements. There needs to be some sort of primer that ties everything together.

I thought of the below slide from the Treasury Town Hall.

It would be great to have a primer, perhaps building upon the above graphic, that would explain the full circle / lifecycle of the data and where each data element plays a part. This data is part of a story - start by telling the whole story for those that may not be as intimately familiar with the process. Highlighting areas for potential future improvement and areas covered under DATA and FFATA. The more I hear about how funding is established (lots of text and documents versus a system with orderly data), the more I cringe. This could be the starting point for an open dialog on potential future enhancements.

[HerschelC]

I think that this image from the Data Transparency Coalition also provides good, high-level context. But by primer, I mean start with the basics. Agency, recipient, contractor, etc. Who are all of these players and what is their role in federal spending.

[bsweger]

@HerschelC Thanks for this idea. Federal spending is complex, and ideas for making the DATA Act understandable to all audiences are welcome. I've flagged this for the team to consider and will post back here if there are any updates.

[kaitlin]

CCing @lanebecker @michaelccata who are starting an effort in this area.