A House bill would require to the ernment to track where its money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) goes by using technology that many panies already use to monitor their financial reporting.

The ernment Information Transparency Act (H.R. 2392), introduced May 14 by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), would standardize the llection of business information throughout agencies. It would require agencies to use a single data standard known as eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) and require that llected information be made readily available for public aess.

XBRL has benefits in preparing and analyzing business information. It offers greater efficiency and better auracy and reliability of data to all involved in supplying or using financial data, experts say. It’s also an open standard, free of license fees, acrding to XBRL International, a nonprofit nsortium of 550 panies and agencies that promote the language.

XBRL tags enable automated processing of business information by puter software, cutting out laborious and stly processes of manual re-entry and parison. puters can regnize information in a XBRL document and exchange it with other puters. Experts say XBRL increases the speed of handling of financial data, rces the chance of error and permits automatic checking of information.

“The technology exists to create real transparency that would allow us to track TARP dollars and value toxic assets, but the federal ernment is far behind the curve in implementing available solutions,” said Issa, ranking member of the House Oversight and ernment Reform mittee.

U.S. banks are currently required to disclose information to the Federal Deposit Insurance rp. in XBRL format. The Securities and Exchange mission recently approved a final rule mandating the use of XBRL for all public-pany reporting, with some panies required to start plying in June.

“This legislation offers more than the promise of change and transparency, it is a substantive plan to implement it,” Issa said.

The bill was referred to the oversight mittee.