A new bill scheduled for debate in the House of Representatives would make the salaries of high-ranking corporate officers at government contracting firms publicly available if passed.

H.R. 3928 requires privately owned companies grossing over $25 million annually that receive over 80 percent of their revenue from federal contracts to report the names and salaries of their highest-ranking company officials annually.  The information would be retained by the General Services Administration (GSA) through their Federal Procurement Data System and made publicly available. 

Not only does the bill seem to violate personal privacy rights, it also targets successful government contractors for no other reason than the fact they are good at what they do. If the government wishes to monitor the bank accounts of government contractors to ensure they aren't embezzling government funds, they have the legal authority to do that.  But there's no need to open up their finances to the entire world and it's outrageous to think that just because one manages a government contracting firm he/she should be subject to public scrutiny. 

And then there's the pragmatic element: cost.  Based on information from GSA, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing H.R. 3928 would cost $2 million in 2009 and about $5 million over the 2009-2013 period.  GSA would incur those costs to amend the Federal Procurement Data System and train employees to use it. 

In government, $7 million won't go too far.  But it could pay for, say, 10 full-time, Justice Department employees to monitor the banking transactions of contractors suspected of  embezzling government funding for a period of 5 years.  And isn't that a better investment than simply building a database to broadcast the wealth of those providing essential services to government and the public?