*The approval rate for this agency was 90 percent or less in 1982-84 and remained 90 percent or less during 1985-87. OMB WATCH 1731 CONNECTICUT AVENUE, NORTHWEST WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009-1146 TELEPHONE: (202) 234-8494 FAX: (202) 234-8584 Testimony of Gary D. Bass, Ph.D. OMB Watch before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs concerning The Federal Information Resources Management Act (S. 1742) February 21, 1990 Thank you for the opportunity to testify on S. 1742, The Federal Information Resources Management Act. For five years, OMB Watch has monitored OMB's implementation of the Paperwork Reduction Act and our Monthly Review has reported on many of OIRA's decisions on a case-by-case basis. We are the only organization that has provided such vigilant and consistent oversight of the paperwork and regulatory process. We know intimately the strengths and weaknesses of the OMB operation. In the past, we have shown that OMB has misused its paperwork powers to accomplish ideological objectives, interfere with notice-and-comment rulemaking, limit the health and safety reporting required of employers in dangerous occupations such as mining, and more. Over the last year, we have convened a Working Group on Information Policy, comprised of roughly 40 national organizations, to discuss reauthorization of the Paperwork Reduction Act. Some members of that Working Group testified before your Subcommittee on Government Information and Regulation last summer and have now carefully reviewed and debated the contents of S. 1742. Despite criticism that OMB Watch has leveled at OMB, we have never advocated repeal of the Paperwork Reduction Act. In fact, quite the reverse, we want to improve and strengthen the law to better manage information resources in the federal government. But in reauthorizing the law, Congress must fix past problems that have become quite apparent and address issues pertinent to the 1990s that have not been addressed in the past. |