================================================================= ALAWON Volume 5, Number 39 ISSN 1069-7799 June 27, 1996 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: LOCAL EMPOWERMENT AND FLEXIBILITY BILLS PENDING ACTION NEEDED: URGE SENATORS TO OPPOSE S. 88, LOCAL EMPOWERMENT AND FLEXIBILITY ACT ELECTRONIC FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL PROGRESSES _________________________________________________________________ LOCAL EMPOWERMENT AND FLEXIBILITY BILLS PENDING Two similar, complex bills in the Senate (S. 88) and House (H.R. 2086), are titled the Local Empowerment and Flexibility Act. The Senate may vote on S. 88, a bill that allows block grants, changes in program eligibility, and waivers of federal laws and regulations, as early as July 8. Both the Senate and House bills have the goal of encouraging communities to be innovative in dealing with specific problems, but enactment of the bills could have unintended consequences that would threaten the integrity of existing programs. Already appropriated funding could be consolidated and transferred between programs. Almost any federal law or regulation could be waived. Eligibility requirements could be changed. A new interagency Community Empowerment Board (CEB), made up of Executive Branch officials, would be created and granted enormous powers to approve or disapprove all or part of flexibility plans submitted by eligible applicants. There are no requirements that the CEB operate in the sunshine; nor are there requirements that the Board obtain public comments on the plans. S. 88, sponsored by Senator Mark Hatfield (R-OR), was approved by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs on May 16, on an 8 to 1 vote, with only Senator John Glenn (D-OH) voting against it. If S. 88 is enacted, state, local, and tribal governments, 501(c)(3) organizations, and any combination of these entities would be eligible to submit a flexibility plan. These plans could cover any federal domestic assistance program, and any grant, contract, loan, or other form of assistance that is made directly or indirectly to state, local, or tribal governments, or to 501(c)(3) organizations. It does not cover assistance programs to individuals (e.g., education loans), benefits provided by the federal government directly to individuals, entitlement programs, and food vouchers. H.R. 2086, sponsored by Representative Christopher Shays (R-CT), was approved by the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight on April 24. Although House floor action was anticipated in early May, it has been postponed. H.R. 2086 establishes a cumbersome process that would in effect create revenue-sharing block grants to states and localities with little accountability for the use of federal funds. If this bill become law, already appropriated federal funds could be transferred from one program area to another, eligibility requirements could be changed, and virtually any local, state, or federal law could be waived. ALA belongs to a coalition of more than 300 national organizations that opposes the marked-up versions of S. 88 and H.R. 2086. The coalition has been working with Senator's Hatfield's staff to modify the bill. ACTION NEEDED: Urge your Senators to oppose S. 88, Local Empowerment and Flexibility Act in its current form. Constituents of Senator Hatfield should ask him to accept revisions to his bill. _________________________________________________________________ ELECTRONIC FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL PROGRESSES The Electronic Freedom of Information Improvement Act, S. 1090, was favorably reported by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in April 1996 (S. Rept. 104-272). The bill, originally introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Hank Brown (R-CO) in 1991, passed the Senate in 1994, but not the House. Although S. 1090 has not passed the Senate in this Congress, Senate Leahy testified about it at a hearing on June 13 of a subcommittee of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. The bill's purpose is to enhance electronic access to, and expand the information forms or formats used in making each category of information available under the Freedom of Information Act. The bill is also intended to promote agency compliance with statutory time limits. Chronic delays in receiving responses to Freedom of Information Act requests are the largest single complaint of persons using the FOIA, according to the Senate report on S. 1090. Following in the tradition of the GPO Access Act, S. 1090 requires that the Federal Register be available through "on-line access" or alternative electronic means such as CD-ROM. In addition, materials made available under FOIA must be made available electronically, either online or in some other electronic form. Further, the bill requires that an index of records released be made available for public inspection and copying. The Senate report also envisions that the World Wide Web sites established by agencies could be used to provide online access to both an index of and the records released under FOIA. The bill introduces a definition of "record," not previously contained the law, and includes "machine readable materials or other information or documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics." The Senate report includes a discussion of the distinction between records and databases to illustrate the intent of the bill is to include computer databases within the realm of the Freedom of Information Act. Exemptions to the term "record," include library and museum materials, extra copies of documents preserved solely for convenience of reference, stocks of publications and of processed documents, and computer software which is obtained by an agency under a licensing agreement prohibiting its replication or distribution. GPO's Study on the Federal Depository Library Program Completed The final report to Congress, Study to identify measures necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program, is now completed. Copies of the report should be available by Monday, June 24, 1996, will be mailed to all depository libraries early next week. Copies will also be available at the GPO booth at the ALA and AALL meetings in July. The final report is already available on the Federal Bulletin Board, and can be downloaded from the Federal Bulletin Board through the Internet with a Web browser or an FTP client. Dial-in access is also available. The Internet address for the FDLP Study Report on the Federal Bulletin Board is: fedbbs.access.gpo.gov/lps_info Dial-in users (202-512-1387, Settings 8N1, Full Duplex) or those accessing by telnet to fedbbs.access.gpo.gov should select option I (eye) from the Main Menu or type /GO DEPOSITORY to get to the appropriate menu page. The files will be available through the GPO Web Site shortly at the address: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/adpos001.html For Orders & Assistance contact the GPO Access User Support Team: E-Mail: gpoaccess@gpo.gov; Fax: 202/512-1262; or Phone: 202/512-1530 _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname]" to . ALAWON archives gopher.ala.org; select Washington Office Newsline. Web page HTTP://www.ala.org/alawashington.html. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Contributors: Anne A. Heanue All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================