WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Frustrated in its efforts to get the government to open up about its spending, a D.C. watchdog is creating its own online databases of federal grants and contracts.

The nonprofit OMB Watch says the two government databases that track grants and contracts are unwieldy. The group has obtained a private grant to put easier-to-use versions of the databases on its Web sites.

“It’s important to know where the money is going,” OMB Watch spokeswoman Anna Oman told The Examiner on Tuesday.

Government grants and contracts are public, unless they touch on national security. There are two government databases that track the information. The Federal Assistance Awards Data System lists grants and the Federal Procurement Data System lists contracts. Both are run by outside contractors.

But “the data is just a mess,” Oman said.

On March 10, OMB Watch searched for the Department of the Navy’s fiscal 2005 contracts. The Navy listed one contract, Oman said.

“We’re wondering how much cleanup we’ll have to do,” she said.

OMB Watch’s announcement was welcomed by some good-government advocates, such as American University law professor Jeffrey Lubbers. He says tracking down information on government contracts is like herding cats.

“Most agency home pages don’t have a clear link to all of their contracts or grants,” Lubbers said.

For-profit Web sites offer user-friendly versions of the data, but OMB Watch believes the information ought to be free for all, Oman said.

The database should be up by October.

OMB Watch’s database project and the “data mess”

» OMB Watch was given a three-year, $230,000 grant to create the database.

» It will contain 1.3 million government records.

» More than 38 percent of those records do not list the parent companies of contractors.

bmyers@dcexaminer.com