PlainSpending

Standards · How we work

Changelog

A dated record of data corrections, database refreshes, and feature changes to PlainSpending. Every entry here is corroborated by our source history, see our corrections process for how a reported issue becomes an entry.

  1. Correction

    Per-capita "leader" claim fixed for single-recipient concentration

    A state per-capita ranking could be driven by one large, concentrated recipient rather than broad-based spending. The affected claim was rewritten to disclose the concentration instead of stating a plain "leader."

  2. Correction

    Per-capita rankings caveated for USASpending "multiple recipients" placeholder

    USASpending.gov uses a "MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS" placeholder for some award records. Per-capita rankings that could be distorted by this placeholder now carry an explicit caveat.

  3. Data refresh

    Database rebuild, DOGE state enrichment + OMB outlay categories

    Full data rebuild (etl_version 1, stage:base v2) adding DOGE savings broken out by state and OMB outlay-category classification.

  4. Data refresh

    OMB outlay categories seeded

    Added Office of Management and Budget outlay-category classifications to the spending dataset.

  5. Correction

    Fixed: USASpending placeholder wrongly ranked #1 recipient in all 56 states

    A data-processing bug let the "MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS" placeholder rank as the #1 recipient across every state, and produced a broken $0 narrative on affected pages. Traced to the source join, fixed at the ETL, and every affected page was re-rendered.

  6. Data refresh

    County-state and agency-award-category backfill

    Backfilled state assignment for counties and agency award-category classifications across the existing dataset.

  7. Fix

    DOGE tracker routing fix

    Fixed database adapter parameter numbering and orphaned-parent redirect handling introduced by the DOGE Impact Tracker launch.

  8. Launch

    DOGE Impact Tracker added

    Added agency- and state-level tracking of DOGE-reported contract and grant terminations (initial load: ~29,000 terminations).

Notice something that looks wrong? Report it - see our corrections process.