Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2013

These guidelines would establish measurable goals, performance metrics, and plans for monitoring and evaluating all foreign assistance programs. Federal agencies would be required to publish detailed information about their programs on a public website, including historical and current data. The bill would authorize annual appropriations for these activities equal to no more than 5 percent of each foreign assistance program's budget for those purposes. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that implementing the bill would have discretionary costs of almost $2.4 billion over the 2014-2019 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. The estimated budgetary impact of the bill is shown in the following table, with costs primarily falling within budget function 150 (international affairs). The CBO assumes that the bill will be enacted in 2014, that the necessary amounts will be appropriated each year, and that outlays will follow historical spending patterns for the affected programs. The bill would require federal agencies to adhere to a specific timeline, including establishing guidelines within 18 months of enactment, following guidelines within one year of their establishment, and providing detailed information on foreign assistance within two years of enactment. The federal government partially meets some of the bill's requirements, such as having guidelines for foreign assistance and requiring information on that assistance to be publicly available. However, the bill would require more detailed guidelines and information, especially regarding the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of program performance. The Office of Management and Budget issued guidelines for collecting and disseminating data on foreign assistance in September 2012, but these guidelines do not provide the level of detail required under the bill. CBO estimates that federal agencies could provide the required information for about half of the foreign assistance obligated in recent years. However, the other half of foreign assistance obligated in recent years (about $25 billion) has not undergone routine M&E as envisioned under the bill. The bill would require additional appropriations of $3.1 billion and cost almost $2.4 billion over the 2014-2019 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.