Royalty Transparency Act

This proposal, called the Royalty Transparency Act, aims to shine light on royalty payments to federal workers. It would require many executive branch employees—and certain science and health advisory committee members—to report any royalties they or their families receive from inventions made while working for the government . Agencies must post, every year, the names of covered staff and the source and amount of any reported royalties. The bill also tells federal buying officials to check recent royalty payments when reviewing contractors and grantees for conflicts of interest. Some of the expanded disclosure rules for advisory committee members would end after five years, and GAO would publish and update a list of which advisory committees are covered.

Key points

• Who is affected: executive branch employees, certain science and health advisory committee members, and their spouses/dependent children; also prospective federal contractors and grantees through conflict checks .
• What changes: report royalties with original source and amount; agencies publish annual lists naming covered individuals and their royalty details; conflict-of-interest reviews must include royalty history.
• When: agency public posting starts within 180 days of enactment and repeats annually; GAO issues its covered-committee list within 180 days and updates it each year; some added committee-related disclosure rules sunset after five years .