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This bill would require the Government Publishing Office (GPO) to establish and maintain a publicly available website containing copies of all congressionally mandated reports. The website would be required feature the following, along with certain descriptive information related to such reports: 1) the ability to retrieve a report through specified types of searches; 2) a means for downloading reports individually or in bulk; 3) an electronic means for federal agencies to submit reports to the GPO, as required by the bill; and 4) a list of all reports that can be searched and sorted by time frame or submission status (in a tabular form).

To bring this bill into effect, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) would issue guidance to federal agencies on the bill’s requirement that agencies submit copies of congressionally mandated reports and related information to the GPO. Within reports’ bodies, agencies would retain discretion over redaction or withholding of certain information in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other applicable laws. Once appropriately redacted, all public-facing reports would be published to the website within 30 days of submission to Congress.

Finally, by April 1 of each year, the Library of Congress would be required to submit a list of all congressionally mandated reports from the previous year. This list would be provided in an open format, and would include specified identifying and descriptive information. It’d also be used by GPO to compare against the list of reports received from agencies, helping check whether agencies are complying with their responsibilities in a timely manner.

","official_title":"To require the Director of the Government Publishing Office to establish and maintain an online portal accessible to the public that allows the public to obtain electronic copies of all congressionally mandated reports in one place, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"Last Congress, the CBO estimated that implementing this bill would cost about $2 million from 2019-2023. This amount would cover about $400,000 a year for four employees (two senior and two junior analysts) to ensure comprehensive compliance with the requirement to list all mandated reports.","impact":"Members of the public seeking congressional reports; Congress; Government Publishing Office; Library of Congress; and Office of Management and Budget.","argument_for":"A single, public website that serves as a repository for all congressionally mandated reports would make it easier for the public to discover what the government has learned using their tax dollars and help congressional staffers who need to access the reports for their lawmaker or constituents.","argument_against":"There are already ways for staffers and the public to access congressionally mandated reports. 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Should Reports Sent to Congress be Publicly Available in a Searchable Database?