Sponsors (36)
The bill increases transparency and reproducibility of CBO budget analyses for lawmakers, researchers, and the public, at the cost of higher CBO workload and expenses and legal/privacy limits that may curb how much can actually be shared or replicated.
Taxpayers and Members of Congress gain greater transparency and trust because CBO will publish models, data summaries, and replication packages for cost estimates.
Independent researchers, academics, and universities can replicate and validate CBO analyses, improving external scrutiny and methodological quality of budget estimates.
Regular publication of model updates and assumptions increases accountability and enables timely oversight of changing inputs used in budget projections.
Federal employees face potential legal conflicts and administrative burdens because full disclosure obligations could clash with nondisclosure laws and privacy rules.
Even after publishing models and descriptive statistics, outside reviewers may still be unable to fully replicate results because underlying sensitive or restricted data cannot be disclosed.
Preparing, redacting, and publishing models and replication packages will increase CBO workload and costs, potentially diverting staff time from core analysis and raising expenses borne by taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the CBO to publish models, data-prep routines, and replication materials used in its estimates and to provide summary statistics for nondisclosable data.
Official title: To require the Congressional Budget Office to make publicly available the fiscal and mathematical models, data, and other details of computations used in cost analysis and scoring.
Introduced January 24, 2025 by Warren Davidson · Last progress January 24, 2025
Requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to publish on its website each fiscal and policy model, data-preparation routine, and related materials used in CBO estimates, and to provide—subject to legal nondisclosure limits—the data, programs, assumptions, and computation details needed for outside replication. For data CBO cannot disclose, the bill requires publishing a variable list, descriptive statistics (where allowed), the statutory citation that restricts disclosure, and contact information for the party that has full access. The rule takes effect six months after enactment.