{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr70-115/featured_federal-advisory-committee-act-amendments-of-2017-1483639417.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr70-115/featured_large_federal-advisory-committee-act-amendments-of-2017-1483639417.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr70-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2017-01-03","title_override":"Should Federal Advisory Committees Face More Stringent Ethics Requirements?","summary_override":"

This bill would modify and expand requirements for federal advisory committees to comply with federal ethics laws, and require federal agencies to disclose more information about committee activities to the public. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which this legislation amends, defines a federal advisory committee as a provides the government with independent advice and recommendations.

Any person appointed to an advisory committee who isn’t a full-time or permanent part-time officer or employee of the federal government could be designated as either a special government employee or a representative. Special government employees would be providing advice based on their personal experience or expertise, while representatives represent the views of a non-federal entity.

Federal agencies would be prohibited from designating committee members as representatives to avoid subjecting them to federal ethics rules. A designated ethics official of each agency would be required to review the designation of each member of an advisory committee has an appropriate designation, and could redesignate members if appropriate. A person would be considered to be an advisory committee member if they regularly attend and participate in meetings, even if they have no voting rights over committee affairs or are part of a subcommittee.

Appointments to federal advisory committees would be required to be made without regard to political affiliation or political activity unless required by federal law. The head of a federal agency making an appointment to an advisory committee must give interested persons an opportunity to suggest potential members in the Federal Register or on the committee’s website. Agencies must consider all comments submitted in the process of making selections of advisory committee members.

For each advisory committee, federal agencies would be required to make available the following:

The committee’s charter;
The member appointment process;
A list of all current members, including designations as representatives or special government employee;
Any recusal agreement made by a member to avoid a conflict of interest;
Committee processes for making decisions;
Detailed meeting minutes;
Notices of future committee meetings.

","official_title":"To amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act to increase the transparency of Federal advisory committees, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2017","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)\n\nFederal Advisory Committee Act Amendments of 2017\n\nThis bill amends the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) to modify and expand requirements for federal advisory committees. A federal advisory committee is any term-limited committee, board, commission, council, conference, panel, task force, or similar group that dispenses objective advice and recommendations to officers and agencies of the executive branch.\n\n(Sec. 2) The bill requires that appointments to federal advisory committees be made without regard to political affiliation or political activity, unless required by federal statute. The head of a federal agency making an appointment to an advisory committee must give interested persons an opportunity to suggest potential committee members by including a request for comments in the Federal Register and providing a mechanism for interested persons to...","summarized":true,"cost":70000000,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that implementing this legislation would cost $70 million over the 2016-2020 period.","impact":"Citizens interested in federal advisory committees; members of federal advisory committees and subcommittees; federal agencies; and ethics officials in federal agencies.","argument_for":"The public should have access to information about who the experts advising federal agencies are, and how they are chosen. Because their position carries significant influence, all advisory committee and subcommittee members should comply with federal ethics laws and conflict of interest rules.","argument_against":"There should continue to be a distinction between advisory committee members and subcommittee members when it comes to compliance with federal ethics laws. 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Bills can encompass government administration, regulation of political parties, the US postal service, US territories and public contracts.","page_title":"US Government - Federal legislation - Vote on Bills, Stay informed, Hold Your Reps Accountable","icons":{"black":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/black_government-1453508811.svg","grey":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/grey_government-1453508811.svg","white":"https://assets.causes.com/issue/icon/government/white_government-1453508811.svg"},"cover_image_url":null,"is_following":false}],"users":[{"name":"Kelly","vote_count":29,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-hat.png","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-hat.png","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-hat.png"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/e9XEzDrW/following","followers":"/api/users/e9XEzDrW/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":12,"is_following":null,"influence_score":0,"influence_level":0,"follower_count":0,"following_count":0,"position_count":24,"id":"e9XEzDrW","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"9029872c-6f11-4a4c-b049-78ccf779d894","argument_for":"Yes, we need our elected officials to make ethical decisions and transparency about those decisions.","argument_against":null,"show_argument_for":true,"show_argument_against":false,"upvote_count":0,"upvotes_for_count":0,"upvotes_against_count":null,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":0,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/9029872c-6f11-4a4c-b049-78ccf779d894"},"body":"Yes, we need our elected officials to make ethical decisions and transparency about those decisions.","stance":"yea","created_at":"2017-01-24T12:49:39.619Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/9029872c-6f11-4a4c-b049-78ccf779d894.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr70-115","user_id":"e9XEzDrW","endorser_ids":[]}}

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Should Federal Advisory Committees Face More Stringent Ethics Requirements?