Title 44 “reform”: Privatization of printing and erosion of GPO functions mean less public access
Happy 2018! We’re back after a quiet and relaxing new year hiatus. While it’s a new year, we’re still in the throes of Congressional “reform” of Title 44 of the US Code, which defines public printing, distribution of government information, and the federal depository library program (FDLP). Up to this point, we had focused our […]
MSU scholars find $21 trillion in unauthorized government spending. Agencies disable links to key documents
I visited the MSU Today news site for the headline about massive unauthorized spending happening at the Department of Defense and Housing and Urban Development. That in and of itself was troubling. But what really drew my attention was in the 2nd paragraph where it stated that the agencies’ Inspector Generals(!) — which are supposed […]
The Congressional Joint Committee On Printing (JCP) Should Be Kept
[Editor’s note: Bernadine Abbott Hoduski has generously contributed the following article about the proposal to abolish the Joint Committee on Printing in the draft bill to reform Title 44 of the U.S. Code. No one is better placed to help us understand the importance of the JCP. She is a (retired) Professional Staff Member of […]
Bill introduced requiring Congressionally mandated reports be deposited to GPO
The Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (ACMRA) H.R. 4631 was introduced yesterday by Representative Mike Quigley. If passed, it will require that all Congressionally mandated reports be deposited in a publicly accessible database maintained by the GPO. For more background, see Daniel Schuman’s writeup and background. The Washington Post wrote about the problem a […]
Suggestions for Revisions to Chapter 5 of the Title 44 Bill
January 19, 2018 / Leave a comment
The draft bill to reform Title 44 of the U.S. Code provides some much needed improvements over the current law. It explicitly requires GPO to follow existing privacy laws and would, for the first time, legally require GPO to preserve digital government information. It also removes the provision that allows GPO to charge for online […]
Continue Reading →