Plain Language in Government Communications Act of 2007

A bill to enhance citizen access to Government information and services by establishing plain language as the standard style of Government documents issued to the public, and for other purposes.

11/1/2007--Introduced.
Plain Language in Government Communications Act of 2007 - Requires each executive agency, not later than one year, to use plain language in any covered document issued or substantially revised after the enactment of this Act. Defines "covered document" to include:
(1) documents that provide information about any government requirement or program or that are relevant to obtaining any government benefit or service; and
(2) letters, publications, forms, notices, or instructions.
Requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue guidance on implementing such requirements to agencies as a circular. Authorizes agencies, pending issuance of such guidance, to follow the guidance of the Plain English Handbook published by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the plain language guidelines developed by the Plain Language Action and Information Network, or their own plain language guidance as long as it is consistent with the Network's guidelines.
Requires each agency head to report to specified congressional committees on how it intends to:
(1) communicate the requirements of this Act to employees;
(2) train employees to write in plain language;
(3) meet the plain language requirement;
(4) ensure ongoing compliance with this Act; and
(5) designate a senior official to be responsible for implementing this Act. Requires:
(1) agency heads to report on compliance to OMB; and
(2) OMB to report on the progress of agencies to specified congressional committees.


... morehide bill summarySee Full Bill Text

Sponsor

• Sen. Daniel Akaka [D, HI]
• and 9 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. Thomas Carper [D, DE]
  • Sen. Hillary Clinton [D, NY]
  • Sen. Thad Cochran [R, MS]
  • Sen. Susan Collins [R, ME]
  • Sen. Carl Levin [D, MI]
  • Sen. Claire McCaskill [D, MO]
  • Sen. Barack Obama [D, IL]
  • Sen. Jon Tester [D, MT]
  • Sen. George Voinovich [R, OH]
  close

Committees

• Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.2291

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

Make a Bill Status Widget (Close help)

OpenCongress widgets allow you to display information about bills and issue areas on your own website or blog. First, select which bill or issue you want to track, then customize the appearance of the panel, and finally paste a simple chunk of HTML into your site. Now your community will have an easy, up-to-date way to track the status of important bills and issues in Congress.

Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
November 01, 2007

Show All Actions (7 actions)Hide Actions

All Bill Actions

• Added to calendar on Jul 10, 2008: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 869..
• Jul 10, 2008: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Lieberman without amendment. With written report No. 110-412.
• Apr 10, 2008: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
• Nov 06, 2007: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13985-13986)
• Nov 01, 2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
• Nov 01, 2007: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13691-13692)
• Introduced on Nov 01, 2007.

---

Related Bills:

• H.R.3548

Related Issue Areas:

• Job training
• Government publicity
• Government publications
• Government paperwork
• 8 more
• Government employees
• Federal employees
• English language
• Employee training
• Congressional reporting requirements
• Congress
• Communications
• Government information

Data from the Congressional Research Service

Users tracking S.2291 (3) are also tracking:

In the News

We are not currently finding any news articles on this topic using our daily automated search of Google News. However, if you know of a relevant news article to display here, OpenCongress site editors have the ability to add it manually. Simply e-mail us the web address of this page and the web address of your suggested news article: We'll post relevant links as quickly as possible. Also, if this topic is important to you, you could write a letter to the editor -- if a news article refers this specific topic by name, a link to that news article is likely to appear here soon.

Blog Coverage

April 15, 2008 S. 2291, Plain Language in Government Communications Act of 2007

Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affiars on April 10, 2008.

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: cbo's Latest 10 Documents

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

January 21, 2008 [US] Government adjusts prior complex wordy and generally ...

S. 2291: Plain Language in Government Communications Act of 2007. A bill to enhance citizen access to Government information and services by establishing plain language as the standard style of Government documents issued to the public, ...

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: My b[l]ogged down head

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

October 31, 2007 S. 2291, A bill to enhance citizen access to Government ...

S. 2291 would enhance citizen access to Government information and services by establishing plain language as the standard style of Government documents issued to the public.... Vote on This Bill: For | Against.

Was this article useful? Yes or No

Source: washingtonwatch.com - Welcome to washingtonwatc...

Did you find this article useful? Your opinion counts - together, we're finding the very best news and blog coverage about Congress available on the web.

See most useful blog posts

Information made available by: