HR 890: GOOD Act

HR 890 in plain English: The GOOD Act requires federal agencies to post all active guidance documents online on the day they are issued, keep them in a single publicly accessible location, and clearly mark any that have been rescinded. The Government Accountability Office must report on agency compliance within five years of the bill's enactment.

Stated purpose

The bill aims to increase public access to federal agency guidance documents by requiring agencies to publish them online in a single, organized location on the day they are issued and to clearly mark any that have been rescinded.

Key points

• Requires agencies to publish guidance documents online on the date they are issued.
• All active agency guidance documents must be housed in one designated website location.
• Agencies must clearly indicate when a guidance document has been rescinded.
• GAO must report on agency compliance within five years of enactment.

Arguments supporters make

• People, businesses, and organizations affected by agency policies deserve to easily find and read the guidance shaping those policies, rather than having to hunt through scattered sources.
• Centralizing and labeling guidance documents makes government more transparent and accountable, reducing the chance that agencies operate through informal or hidden instructions.
• Knowing which guidance has been rescinded and why helps the public and courts understand the current state of agency policy and track changes over time.

Arguments opponents make

• The bill does not require agencies to go through public notice-and-comment before issuing guidance, so publishing documents more visibly does not address concerns that agencies use guidance to effectively make rules without proper legal process.
• Complying with the publication, organization, and update requirements across all agencies could place a real administrative burden on federal staff and systems, using resources that could go elsewhere.
• Exempting FOIA-protected documents means some influential agency guidance may still remain hidden from the public, limiting how much transparency the bill actually achieves.

Tradeoffs

Greater public visibility into agency guidance could improve transparency and accountability, but the bill does not change how guidance is created or limit its use, so increased access may not fully address concerns about agencies governing through informal documents rather than formal rulemaking.

Current status in Congress: Passed House.

NewsClear — neutral news & congressional tracking · Bill of the Week