[The Paperwork Reduction Act: Two Years Later]

GAO provided background on the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, discussed its present status of implementation, and reviewed upcoming events that are considered crucial to its implementation. The law is intended to: (1) provide a discipline in which Federal agencies would improve the management of their information resources; (2) integrate the establishment of information policies; (3) strengthen the reports clearance function established by the old Federal Reports Act; (4) increase the application of information technology in improving the management of information; and (5) insure that the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of information by Government agencies are consistent with requirements of privacy and confidentiality. GAO believes that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which has implementation responsibility of the act, needs to do much more to implement the act than it has done to date. The General Services Administration has reorganized several of its functions to better handle implementation and, OMB has indicated that this reorganization will go far to integrate records management activities with other information-related activities as required by the act. GAO also noted that several agencies' choices for the official in charge of implementing the act were inappropriate. GAO believes that, to achieve the act's objectives, the act needs to be reauthorized, OMB needs increased funding to assist it in implementation efforts, and expended funds must be accounted for.