# Plain Language Summary: Make Transportation Authorities Accountable and Transparent Act

This bill requires the Department of Transportation's inspector general (basically an internal auditor who checks for waste and misuse) to investigate how the five largest public transit systems in the country spent federal money they received during the pandemic and recovery period. The bill focuses on the biggest transit agencies by passenger volume—think major city subway and bus systems like those in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and similar large metropolitan areas. The inspector general needs to examine funds these agencies received from various pandemic relief laws passed between 2020 and 2021, including the initial coronavirus relief packages and the American Rescue Plan.

The audit will look at exactly how much money each of these five transit agencies received and trace where that money actually went. Within six months of the bill becoming law, the inspector general must report back to Congress with their findings. Essentially, this is about making sure that the billions of dollars sent to help public transportation systems during the pandemic were actually used appropriately and not wasted or misused. For regular people, this matters because it affects whether your tax dollars are being spent wisely on the transit systems many of us depend on, and it could influence how future emergency funding is distributed to these agencies.

Make Transportation Authorities Accountable and Transparent Act

Malliotakis, Nicole

Make Transportation Authorities Accountable and Transparent ActThis bill directs the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Transportation to conduct an audit of public transportation spending under certain laws (including specified coronavirus relief laws) and report to Congress.