I recently stumbled across a searchable U.S. government database, USAspending.gov, which lists all federal grants and contracts. This resource is a goldmine for journos, particularly local media — especially in an election year — since the data are easily searchable by congressional district. USAspending.gov was mandated by the Federal Funding, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2006.
A quick search of my former district (New York’s 21st, the district of retiring Democrat Michael R. McNulty, which roughly includes the state capital Albany and surrounding areas) shows that the U.S. spent nearly $1 billion there in fiscal 2007.
The tally sounds like a lot, until you read that it represents just 0.2 percent of all awarded federal dollars for the fiscal year. Which makes you realize just how much money the U.S. government spends every year. But this district is ranked 114th nationwide (out of 435 congressional districts, I imagine), so it’s holding its own in competition with the rest of the country — and its neighbors. Next door, N.Y. district 23 (represented by Republican John McHugh) received slightly more than half as much ($551 million), so it ranks 193rd.
The number of stories local journalists can find in here is staggering: comparisons, rankings, features, etc. And that’s even if no one figures out a way to make a cool, searchable widget for this database. (Although someone probably will — and should).
USAspending.gov is an offshoot of the earlier (and still ongoing) online database FedSpending.org, which crunches the data even further. FedSpending, which was chreated by the watchdog group OMB Watch, also is updated to include partial data for FY 2008. I extend a hat tip here to the Sunlight Foundation, which seeks to increase citizen engagement and government transparency, and which has funded several journalism projects, as well as the OMB database.
If only such transparency and data were the norm here in Israel. Sigh…
