$162 million in stimulus funds not disclosed

[The Northerner]

WASHINGTON — Recovery.gov promised transparency on how the government spends every dollar of stimulus money, but there's $162 million the website doesn't disclose.

Recipients of 352 federal stimulus contracts, grants and loans have failed to report how they spent the money, the status of their projects or how many jobs were funded, according to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Despite orders from the White House to crack down, enforcement is spotty.

The reports are important because they provide the most detailed disclosures of government spending, and are the keystone of government transparency efforts. Last Friday, the beginning of a new fiscal year, OMB expanded the use of recipient reporting, requiring it for the first time on non-stimulus spending.

OMB controller Danny Werfel said those 352 are less than 1% of the more than 88,000 stimulus projects required to report — a big improvement over a year ago, when reporting started and about 8% of recipients didn't file.

But as compliance goes up, repeat offenders stand out. As of the last report, 32 recipients have missed two consecutive quarterly reports —and eight have missed three. They account for $7.4 million in awards.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-10-06-stimulus06_ST_N.htm