Last month the Advisory Committee on Transparency hosted a panel discussion entitled “The Hidden Budget: Tax Expenditures,” where a panel of experts explored how tax subsidies fit into the federal budget. Tax expenditures are much harder to define and monitor than traditional government spending such as contracts and grants, and the panelists discussed ways to make this form of spending a more transparent part of the budget process.

Participants included William Beach of the Heritage Foundation, Thomas Hungerford of the Congressional Research Service, Lori Metcalf of the Pew Charitable Trusts, Eric Toder of the Urban Institute, and Jesse Feinberg from Rep. Mike Quigley’s office. Resources on tax expenditures as well as handouts from the event are available on the Advisory Committee on Transparency website. Video of the event is also available.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yFeP8lDVyw]