The Data Branch

Public dollars should buy what works, at a price that stands up against what other agencies paid.

Item, vendor, price, date. If a document has those four, we can use it. We do not create new information; we collect what is already public.

How we operate Our rules How it works

How we operate

Purchasing records. Not marketing lists.

We request what was bought, from whom, at what price, and when. A published role may appear. We do not sell it.

United States Capitol

Rules

Six rules. Same ones in every request and every answer.

How we operate, not how we ingest files. Collection steps are on How it works.

Public by design

Already public. We collect purchase orders and related documents agencies publish or must release under open-records law.
Purchasing only. We focus on what was bought, from whom, at what price and when: the transaction record agencies already hold.
Published contacts only. When a contact appears, it's a role the agency listed publicly itself.

Collected where it already lives

Collection lives elsewhere. FOIA, board packets, open checkbooks, bid portals. See How it works and What we look for online.
You can make it faster. If your system already prints a PO or check register, that's the file. What to send.

Make it comparable

Normalize across places. Same product language, agency size, and geography so a Chromebook in two states reads as a Chromebook.
Connect the file. A purchase sits next to the contract, the minutes, and the grant that funded it.
Clear answers. The app answers with prices and sources, in plain terms.

Show your work

Every figure sourced. Answers link back to the document, agency, or public page they came from.
Honest about gaps. When coverage is thin, we say so, and we go looking for what would fill it.
Labeled research. Public-web fallbacks stay clearly marked, never mixed in as if they were purchase orders.

Built to be shared

Share once, help many. One agency's export improves answers for every peer that asks next.
We collect; you can contribute. We find what we can on our own; files sent directly make the record more complete, sooner.
For public workers & entities. Schools, colleges, cities, counties, states, police, and special districts.

Measured by better buying

Better prices. Success is agencies checking peers before they sign, and paying less for what works.
Better products. Public dollars should buy what works, at a price that stands up against what other agencies paid.
Ongoing collection. New sources and contributions arrive continuously. Where coverage is thin we go looking rather than hide it.

The public record

Item, vendor, price, date.

If a document has those four, we can use it. If a contact appears, it is a role the agency published. If we don't have peers in your size band, we say so.

Item, vendor, price, and date, from purchase orders and related files already in the public record.
Official roles only. Where a contact appears, it's one the agency published itself.
Every figure traces to the document, agency, or public page it came from.
When coverage is thin, we say so.

The app

Ask like you'd ask the next county.

The app answers from purchase orders, contracts, and board minutes. Send the export, send a posted link, or just sign in.

How it works What we look for online What to send Open the app