Royalty Transparency Act
The Royalty Transparency Act requires executive branch employees and members of certain federal advisory committees to publicly disclose royalties they receive from inventions developed during their government employment. The bill mandates that these financial disclosures be published online and made available to Congress with minimal redactions. It specifically targets members of health-related advisory committees (such as those advising on vaccines and biosecurity) and requires agencies to review potential conflicts of interest related to royalty payments when awarding contracts or grants. The legislation aims to increase transparency around financial relationships between government employees and private entities that may benefit from their official recommendations or decisions.
Key Points
- 1Expands financial disclosure requirements to include members of 11 named health and science advisory committees, plus any other advisory committees making public health recommendations that have been implemented in the past 10 years
- 2Requires disclosure of the source and amount of all royalties received by executive branch employees, their spouses, and dependent children from government-developed inventions, overriding existing confidentiality protections
- 3Mandates that agencies publish royalty information on their websites and provide unredacted reports to Members of Congress within 30 days of request (with limited exceptions for personal information)
- 4Requires conflict of interest reviews for federal contractors and grantees to include examination of royalty payments received in the preceding year
- 5Includes a 5-year sunset provision for the expanded advisory committee coverage, after which only specifically named committees would remain subject to the requirements