Treasury Notes

On the first day of his presidency, President Barack Obama made transparency a priority, committing his Administration to an “unprecedented level of openness in Government.” Since January of 2009, the Administration has worked to improve Freedom of Information Act processes to get information to the public more quickly, made voluminous information available on government websites, and used technology in innovative ways that harness government information to improve the lives of ordinary citizens.

Today, in conjunction with the the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York City, President Obama will sign the Open Government Partnership declaration, which is a new, multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.

Since President Obama launched the Open Government Initiative over two years ago, the Treasury Department has been working to answer his call to create a more efficient and effective government through greater transparency, participation, and collaboration. A number of these actions not only contribute to our Open Government goals but also have the added benefit of supporting our “Paperless Treasury” initiative, which has helped our agency both save taxpayer dollars and cut down on environmental waste. In 2011 alone, the Treasury Department has taken a number of steps to increase its openness, transparency and interaction with the public:

• Treasury launched a new “e-FOIA” initiative where you can now submit and track FOIA requests online by visiting www.onlinefoia.treasury.gov. While you can still submit FOIA requests by paper, those who choose to take advantage of our new online option will find that it improves the efficiency and transparency of the FOIA process.
• In a move that met both an open government goal and President Obamas plan to foster a 21^st-century regulatory system, Treasury identified a broad range of possible rule modifications that have the potential to achieve substantial savings both in staff time by eliminating reporting burdens as well as actual dollars by reducing regulatory costs. Treasury’s goal is to create an open, ongoing culture of regulatory review.
• Treasury also proactively publishes hundreds of pages of reports and other documents on our website about the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), including a new TARP Tracker; our borrowing plans; the performance of our foreclosure prevention program Making Home Affordable; the speeches and activities of top agency officials; our holdings of international currency; foreign holdings of Treasury debt; the Specially Designated Nationals List; Secretary Geithner's calendar; reports and funding announcements from the Small Business Lending Fund and State Small Business Credit Initiative; and many other issues. Additionally, Treasury voluntarily discloses the meetings that our senior officials hold with outside groups on the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Treasury has submitted 12 datasets to data.gov, successfully meeting the transparency goal of submitting 3 datasets per quarter.
• Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and other senior officials have traveled across the country (Seattle, WA; Northwest Arkansas; Detroit, MI; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Cleveland, OH; Cincinnati, OH (twice recently); New Hampshire; Chicago, IL; and more) to meet with and hear from local business leaders about how to continue to strengthen economic growth and job creation. Treasury’s also held a number of conferences and symposia at our headquarters on Women in Finance, counter-terrorist financing, access to capital and community development financial institutions.
• The Financial Stability Oversight Council, established under the Dodd-Frank Act, has repeatedly held meetings webcast to the public and has called for public comment on a number of Advanced Notices of Proposed Rulemaking, Notices of Proposed Rulemaking and Requests for Information, and recently released its first annual report.

And our bureaus are making strides as well.

• The Financial Management Service announced that beginning May 1, anyone newly applying for Social Security, Veterans Affairs or other federal benefits will need to choose an electronic payment method, including direct deposit or a pre-paid debit card. People currently receiving federal benefits by paper check must switch to an electronic payment method by March 1, 2013. This will save the taxpayers $1 billion over the next 10 years. In addition to the taxpayer savings, electronic payments are safer and more convenient than paper checks for benefit recipients.
• Supporting its Regulatory Efficiency and Effectiveness Initiative , FinCEN's Bank Secrecy Act E-Filing System (BSA E-Filing) now includes two additional forms that can be E-Filed, improving data quality, saving taxpayer money and improving customer service. And FinCEN recently proposed that nearly all FinCEN reports be electronically filed as from June 30, 2012.
• The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has published eight audit reports that make recommendations for better government collaboration and sharing of data to help combat waste, fraud and abuse in the Federal system of tax administration, and enhance compliance with the tax laws.
• The Bureau of the Public Debt’s (BPD) ended the issuance of paper savings bonds issued through employer-sponsored payroll savings plans on September 30^th for federal employees and December 31^st for all others. Additionally, BPD announced that as of 2012, paper savings bonds will no longer be sold at financial institutions and will conduct additional outreach to make investors aware of TreasuryDirect for purchasing electronic Treasury securities.
• The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) have recently released two mobile phone applications, leveraging technology to providing you the information you need—whenever you need it, wherever you are. The BEP's EyeNote allows the blind or visually impaired to scan paper currency to discover the bank note's value. With the IRS’ IRS2Go application, users can check on their refund status, receive tax tips and updates, and connect with the IRS Twitter news feed.

These are some of the highlights of Treasury’s Open Government work over the past year. We also know we are not done.  As the the United States commits itself to Open Government in an international forum, the Department of the Treasury is recommitting itself to the principles that the President announced on his first day in office and exemplified in our work since then: transparency, participation and collaboration. For more about Treasury’s open government initiative, please visit www.treasury.gov/open.

Dan Tangherlini is Assistant Secretary for Management, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Performance Officer at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.​