RECOVERY.GOV OVERVIEW

In response to severe economic downturn, Congress passed the Recovery Act in February of 2009, and the President signed it into law.

Worth $787 billion, the act includes federal tax cuts,

expansion of unemployment benefits and other entitlements,

as well as domestic spending in

education

healthcare

infrastructure

energy and more

Recovery.gov is the officially sanctioned government site established to track the last item on that list: domestic recovery spending in the form of contracts, grants, and loans.

This is the first time the federal government has attempted to provide such expansive accountability and transparency.

The audience is you: any American citizen should be able to find what they are looking for on this site. The data is presented in easy-to-find, easy-to-sort, and easy-to-use ways.

The Board oversees Recovery spending, working to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse of funds.

Through Recovery.gov, the Board provides transparency on the use of Recovery funds. The Board also issues reports to the President and Congress on its activities.

The Board does not own or produce any of the recipient data.

Recipients must first log in and report their data on FederalReporting.gov, another government website. Federal agencies can request corrections in the data but only recipients can make changes. This process ensures data integrity.

The data is presented on Recovery.gov in a different format, including maps and charts that are easy to use and understand.

Additionally, the Board works with the federal Inspector General community to prevent and detect misuse of Recovery funds.

The American public can be a big part of that effort.  Recovery.gov provides a forum for citizens to report fraud, waste, and abuse.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the Recovery program and Recovery.gov, see what’s new and what’s next on this site.