Work of the Commission on Federal Paperwork and the General Accounting Office's Role in Reducing Paperwork Burdens

The Commission on Federal Paperwork's principal message is that federal government paperwork and reporting burdens are not being properly managed and that comprehensive changes are needed in the policies, practices, and procedures now employed. The Commission has developed about 800 recommendations addressing a broad range of government activities. The Commission concluded that paperwork reform requires greater support of Congress and proposed that Congress provide for paperwork assessment to be included in legislative reports, Congressional committees require agencies to address paperwork impacts of proposed legislation, and that the House Government Operations Committee and the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee take lead responsibility for paperwork concerns in Congress. Although GAO supports the concept that information is a resource which must be better managed, it does not support the proposal to consolidate major paperwork and information policy oversight functions into a cabinet-level department. Instead, the establishment of an independent commission to provide comprehensive policy coordination and oversight of federal information management activities is suggested. Current limitations found in the reports clearance process involve the timeliness of the process, adversarial proceedings, insufficient staff, and limited comprehensive files. GAO efforts to improve the quality of data reported to the government involve three issue areas: (1) statistics and other information obtained from nonfederal sources; (2) information management by agencies; and (3) improving program and budgetary information reported to Congress. Three key areas provide the direction for future GAO work: (1) the process for considering the impact or burden imposed by proposed legislation; (2) controls established in the executive branch to limit paperwork; and (3) management of the government's information resources.