Royalty Transparency Act

Summary

Requires executive-branch officials and certain advisory committee members to disclose and publicly post royalty payments tied to government-related inventions, and lets Congress receive unredacted reports with narrow redactions for personal data. Changes federal procurement reviews to check whether prospective contractors or grantees received royalty payments in the prior calendar year and requires annual reporting on identified royalty-related conflicts and how they were handled. Directs agencies, GAO, the FAR Council, and OMB to meet specific deadlines and issue rules, and includes a severability clause so the rest of the law stays in effect if part is struck down.

• Mandates disclosure and public posting of royalty payments tied to government-related inventions by many executive-branch officials and certain advisory committee members.
• Allows congressional committees and Members of Congress to receive unredacted disclosure reports with narrow redactions for personal data.
• Requires procurement conflict-of-interest reviews to check whether prospective contractors or grantees received royalty payments in the prior calendar year.
• Directs agencies to begin annual reporting within one year on the number of royalty-related potential conflicts found and how they were addressed.
• Requires intelligence agencies to report royalty-conflict review outcomes to congressional intelligence committees as well as oversight committees.
• Charges the FAR Council and OMB with issuing any regulatory changes necessary to implement the procurement-review requirement.
• Sets deadlines for agency and GAO actions related to disclosure and reporting responsibilities.
• Includes a severability clause so that if any portion is invalidated, the remaining provisions continue to apply.