Sponsor
Stephanie I. Bice
Representative · R-OK
Representative · R-OK
The bill broadens and modernizes public digital access and GPO operational flexibility—potentially lowering printing costs and improving discoverability—while shifting more reliance onto digital delivery, concentrating sale/disposal authority, and creating cost, oversight, and access trade-offs for print-dependent users, small libraries, agencies, and taxpayers.
Researchers, students, and the general public get free, permanent online access to government publications (including faster online updates to the Annotated Constitution), improving transparency and research ability.
Depository libraries will receive cataloging, preservation, and training support, helping them maintain collections and serve patrons better.
The bill guarantees geographically distributed tangible copies (minimum four) of certain publications so communities retain local physical access if digital access fails.
People who rely on printed copies or lack reliable internet access (including former Members, congressional offices, and some libraries/communities) risk losing guaranteed free physical access when printing is curtailed or distribution rights become permissive.
Concentrating resale/disposal rulemaking authority in the Superintendent and removing some departmental approvals reduces departmental and congressional oversight, which could limit transparency and uniformity across agencies.
Expanding the government’s digital repository, preservation, and stewardship programs will raise federal costs and require agency staffing and resource commitments that taxpayers ultimately bear.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Modernizes GPO law: creates Public Information Programs, expands Superintendent authorities over sales and disposal, renames the Joint Committee, and shifts the Annotated Constitution from mandated print to digital editions.
Official title: To revise certain authorities of the Government Publishing Office, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 18, 2026 by Stephanie I. Bice · Last progress June 18, 2026
Updates law governing the Government Publishing Office and the Superintendent of Documents to modernize how government publications are cataloged, preserved, distributed, sold, and made permanently accessible to the public. It creates a new statutory set of Public Information Programs (including a Federal Depository Library Program, online access, preservation, and sales), removes or narrows some prior approval and printing mandates, redesignates the Joint Committee on Printing as the Joint Committee on Publishing, and ends many required hardbound print distributions of the Annotated Constitution in favor of digital editions and supplements.