Paperwork Reduction Act:
Burden Increases at IRS and Other Agencies
T-GGD-00-114: Published: Apr 12, 2000. Publicly Released: Apr 12, 2000.
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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the implementation of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), focusing on: (1) the changes in federal paperwork burden since last year's hearing, with particular attention to changes at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); (2) IRS burden-relief initiatives that are directed at small businesses; and (3) PRA violations.
GAO noted that: (1) although the PRA envisioned a 30-percent reduction in federal paperwork between fiscal years 1995 and 1999, preliminary data indicate that paperwork has increased during this period, and that the increase is primarily attributable to IRS; (2) federal paperwork increased by about 233 million burden hours during fiscal year (FY) 1999 alone--the largest increase in any 1-year period since the PRA was enacted; (3) nearly 90 percent of the governmentwide increase during FY 1999 was attributable to increases at IRS, which IRS said was primarily a result of new and existing statutory requirements; (4) some non-IRS agencies appear to have exceeded the burden-reduction goals envisioned in the PRA; (5) although some of these reductions reflect substantive program changes, others are revisions to the agencies' previous burden estimates or are the result of violations of the act, and therefore will have no effect on the paperwork burden felt by the public; (6) federal agencies identified 710 violations of the PRA during FY 1999--fewer than the 872 violations that were identified during FY 1998; (7) however, problems in last year's data make it unclear whether the number of violations is really going down; and (8) even if the number of violations is going down, 710 PRA violations during FY 1999 is far too many.
Oct 8, 2020
Open Data:
Agencies Need Guidance to Establish Comprehensive Data Inventories; Information on Their Progress is LimitedGAO-21-29: Published: Oct 8, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 8, 2020.
Jul 16, 2020
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Coast Guard:
Actions Needed to Ensure Investments in Key Data System Meet Mission and User NeedsGAO-20-562: Published: Jul 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Jul 16, 2020.
Mar 30, 2020
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Information Management:
Selected Agencies Need to Fully Address Federal Electronic Recordkeeping RequirementsGAO-20-59: Published: Feb 27, 2020. Publicly Released: Mar 30, 2020.
Mar 16, 2020
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Freedom of Information Act:
Federal Agencies' Recent Implementation EffortsGAO-20-406R: Published: Mar 11, 2020. Publicly Released: Mar 16, 2020.
Dec 16, 2019
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Assessing Data Reliability (Supersedes GAO-09-680G)GAO-20-283G: Published: Dec 16, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 16, 2019.
Oct 17, 2019
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Freedom of Information Act:
DHS Needs to Reduce Backlogged Requests and Eliminate Duplicate ProcessingGAO-20-209T: Published: Oct 17, 2019. Publicly Released: Oct 17, 2019.
Aug 10, 2018
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Paperwork Reduction Act:
Agencies Could Better Leverage Review Processes and Public Outreach to Improve Burden EstimatesGAO-18-381: Published: Jul 11, 2018. Publicly Released: Aug 10, 2018.
Jun 25, 2018
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Freedom of Information Act:
Agencies Are Implementing Requirements but Additional Actions Are NeededGAO-18-365: Published: Jun 25, 2018. Publicly Released: Jun 25, 2018.
Mar 13, 2018
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Freedom of Information Act:
Agencies Are Implementing Requirements but Need to Take Additional ActionsGAO-18-452T: Published: Mar 13, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 13, 2018. -
Freedom of Information Act:
Federal Court Decisions Have Not Required the Office of Special Counsel to Initiate Disciplinary Actions for the Improper Withholding of RecordsGAO-18-235R: Published: Mar 13, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 13, 2018.
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