S 252: GOOD Act

S 252 in plain English: The GOOD Act (Guidance Out Of Darkness Act) would require federal agencies to publish all active guidance documents online on the day they are issued, organize them in a single website location, and clearly mark any rescinded documents.

Stated purpose

The bill aims to increase public access to federal agency guidance documents by requiring agencies to post all such documents online in a single, organized location on the day they are issued, and to clearly mark any that have been rescinded.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 post guidance documents online on the date they are issued
• Mandates all active guidance documents be kept in one location on a designated website
• Requires agencies to display a hyperlink giving public access to all guidance documents
• Agencies must indicate on their website when a guidance document has been rescinded
• Documents must be categorized as guidance and further divided into subcategories

Arguments supporters make

• People and businesses have a right to easily see all the guidance government agencies are using to make decisions that affect them — right now that information is scattered and hard to find.
• Centralizing guidance documents promotes accountability and helps the public and courts spot when agencies are quietly using informal documents to set policy without going through the normal rulemaking process.
• Greater transparency reduces surprises for businesses and individuals who may unknowingly violate agency expectations they had no easy way to learn about.

Arguments opponents make

• Agencies produce a vast volume of informal communications — including blog posts and speeches — and requiring all of it to be catalogued and posted could create an enormous administrative burden with unclear benefit.
• Broadly defining guidance documents to include things like speeches and news releases may cause confusion about what actually carries legal weight, potentially making the regulatory landscape harder, not easier, to understand.
• Requiring agencies to maintain and display rescinded documents alongside active ones could create a cluttered record that misleads the public about what rules are currently in force.

Tradeoffs

Greater public transparency requires agencies to spend time and resources managing and publishing large volumes of documents; the broad definition of guidance that maximizes openness may also blur the line between official policy and informal agency communication.

Current status in Congress: In committee.

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