Government moves to enforce stimulus reporting

Federal agencies are attempting to take back $1.2 million in stimulus grants and contracts because the recipients haven't told the government what they're doing with the money. The actions against seven recipients mark the first time the government has taken action to enforce the reporting requirements. Each has failed to file at least three quarterly reports.

"When we said we'd provide unprecedented transparency of Recovery Act spending, we meant business," said Andrea Mead, Recovery Act press secretary for Vice President Biden. Mead said Tuesday that the repeat offenders represent a fraction of 1% of the $275 billion in Recovery Act money that went to grants and contracts.

The law requires stimulus recipients to submit detailed data every three months about the progress of their projects, the number of jobs funded and their top salaries — a model of transparency the Obama administration wants to extend to all federal spending. The full list of non-reporting recipients will be posted at Recovery.gov today. The sanctions include freezing of funds, demands for repayment, or suspension from doing business with the government in the future.