Royalty Transparency Act

This bill requires executive branch employees and members of certain advisory committees to report royalties they receive from inventions developed during their government employment, and it mandates public disclosure of those royalties. It also requires conflict-of-interest reviews for federal contractors and grantees to include royalty payments.

Sec. 2, Financial disclosure reports of executive branch employees: This section adds members of several named advisory committees (such as the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) to the list of individuals who must file financial disclosure reports. It also requires the Government Accountability Office to publish a list of advisory committees that make public health recommendations that have been implemented. The requirement for these additional committees expires after 5 years. The section also requires that waivers of conflict-of-interest rules be reported to specified congressional committees. It amends the contents of financial disclosure reports to require reporting of the original source and amount of any royalties received by the employee, spouse, or dependent child from an invention developed during government employment, overriding certain other laws that might keep that information confidential. It requires agencies to publish these reports on their websites. It also requires agencies to provide unredacted copies of reports to Members of Congress within 30 days of a request, with limited exceptions for personal information. Confidential filers must also report royalties, and agencies must publish annual reports listing the names and royalty amounts of covered individuals.

Sec. 3, Preventing organizational conflicts of interest in federal acquisition: This section directs the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and the Office of Management and Budget to update regulations so that conflict-of-interest reviews for contractors and grantees include a review of royalties paid to them in the preceding year. It also requires agencies to report annually to specified congressional committees on the number of potential conflicts of interest related to royalty payments and the steps taken to address them.

Sec. 4, Severability: If any part of this act is found unconstitutional, the rest of the act remains in effect.