Coinciding with the federally mandated website disclosing how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau spends its budget on government contractors, more U.S. House members — including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan — continued the parade of bill proposals and other ideas about how to modify the CFPB’s structure and regulatory powers.

First, according to data posted on USASpending.gov, the product or service where the CFPB spent the most money during the 2016 fiscal year came within the line item of advertising services — a sum surpassing $15 million and dwarfing the next two categories that had titles sounding like what might qualify for services rendered.

As advertising services was by far the largest budget outlay — exactly $15,282,721 covering 26 transactions with government contractors — coming in next was what was classified as support- professional: program evaluation/review/development. USASpending.gov indicated this category included 23 transactions for a total of $8,614,491.

Not far behind was the third-highest category — program management/support services — consisting of 22 transactions and totaling $6,134,457.

All told, the site indicated the CFPB funded $57,106,226 in government contracts during the fiscal year.

And which firms landed those contracts? USASpending.gov — the publicly accessible, searchable website mandated by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 — contained those details, too.

Securing the highest amount of CFPB contract funds was GMMB, a firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and Seattle that specializes in public relations and communications. GMMB secured $14,442,752 through 14 contracts with the bureau.

According to its LinkedIn profile, GMMB said, “We’re activists at heart. When we opened our doors in 1983 we had one goal in mind: to create positive change through electoral politics and issue advocacy. And we’ve never lost sight of the underlying mission that drives what we do — using communications, advertising and digital and social media to help foundations, nonprofits, associations, governments and socially conscious corporations make this world a better, healthier and safer place.”

The next three firms scoring the most funds from the CFPB hailed from the accounting, legal and financial services worlds, including:

—Deloitte: $8,174,120 through six contracts

—Ernst & Young: $7,073,159 through three contracts

—PricewaterhouseCoopers: $6,140,241 through 19 contracts

And for comparison, the CFPB spent significantly more money during the fiscal year than another federal regulator that frequently oversees auto financing — the Federal Trade Commission. USASpending.gov indicated the FTC spent a total of $23,561,061 on contracts with most of that figure — $13,659,188 to be exact — going to what was classified as expert witnesses through 159 contracts.

The CFPB receives its funding directly from the Federal Reserve, not through a lawmaker budget process — one of the points that raises the ire of some legislators. Back in April, a vivid partisan divide appeared again when the House Financial Services Committee approved a measure that would place budget appropriations for the CFPB within Congressional jurisdiction.

The committee approved what is being called the Taking Account of Bureaucrats’ Spending Act by a vote of 33-20 with the entire opposition tally coming from Democrats.

Another member of the House — Rep. Matt Salmon of Arizona — introduced a bill to amend the way complaints are handled by the CFPB. The Republican lawmaker explained the proposal would require the bureau to verify and put into context the consumer complaints the CFPB is presenting.

“By verifying these complaints with evidence of actual wrongdoing, Americans will have a greater understanding of various financial products and be better informed of any violations committed by these institutions,” Salmon said.

“Under current law, the CFPB launched a Consumer Complaint Database that serves as a mechanism to inform the consumer about potentially troublesome institutions,” he continued. “We owe it to the American people to make this information as accurate and as clear as possible. Unfortunately, the current database is disorganized and does little to provide the American people with important information to inform their decision-making.

“My bill would improve the current database by requiring the CFPB to verify the facts of each complaint and present this information in an aggregated format so that consumers have better access to CFPB-collected data and can make better decisions about their financial futures,” Salmon went on to say.

Meanwhile, Ryan also is rolling out a broad plan for widespread reform that is incorporated within the moniker “A Better Way.” One of the ideas includes modifying the Dodd-Frank Act as well as how the CFPB generally operates.

“All of us — not government — should have the biggest role to play in our lives,” Ryan said. “That’s what these next two planks in our agenda are about. Regulations should serve to help, not hinder the workers and risk-takers at the heart of our economy. And after decades of executive overreach, it is time we restore self-government and the separation of power. This is a better way to uphold our Constitution and preserve the pursuit of happiness.”

Upon hearing Ryan’s proposals, cheers came from Richard Hunt, president and chief executive officer of the Consumer Bankers Association.

“We applaud Speaker Ryan and House Republicans for their efforts to strengthen the governance structure of the CFPB.  As we see at the vast majority of independent federal agencies, a bipartisan commission at the helm will provide a balanced, fair, deliberative approach to supervision, regulation, and enforcement,” Hunt said.

“Most importantly, it offers a stable form of leadership that will preserve the agency’s role regardless of a President Trump or Clinton,” Hunt continued. “Additionally, we thank them for highlighting the need to improve a number of other issues hurting consumers’ access to credit. 

“We look forward to working with the House to advance these proposals to the Senate and then the White House,” Hunt went on to say.