With the DATA Act approved by the U.S. Senate and on its way to the House, it’s time to hand out some well-deserved thanks to some folks who helped move the groundbreaking legislation forward.

I’m talking about Maryland’s U.S. senators, Democrats Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, whose support has been instrumental to the data transparency movement in Washington.

“We wish to thank senators Cardin and Mikulski for their leadership in advancing the DATA Act,” said MACPA Executive Director Tom Hood. “This important legislation will help contribute to an unprecedented level of transparency for federal spending.”

The legislation was approved in a unanimous consent motion offered on the Senate floor on April 10. The bill next moves to the House for final approval there. According to the Data Transparency Coalition, passage by the House could come soon after the Congressional recess ends on April 28.

The MACPA is a member of the Data Transparency Coalition and a longtime supporter of the DATA Act.

Nearly three years in the making, the DATA Act would standardize the ways in which federal spending information is reported and call for the creation of a searchable online database that would let all Americans see how the government is spending their money.

And since the MACPA is also a longtime supporter of eXtensible Business Reporting Language, or XBRL, we’re hoping that standardization would include the use of XBRL for reporting the government’s financial information. You’ll find much more about the benefits of XBRL here.

More on the DATA Act later as it moves toward the president’s desk.