Sponsors (4)
The bill shifts the Constitution Annotated to a digital-first model that expands free online access and reduces printing costs for taxpayers, while decreasing guaranteed access to physical copies and placing accessibility and long-term preservation burdens on people without reliable internet and the Library of Congress.
Members of the public (students, researchers, and general readers) gain free, continuous online access to the Annotated Constitution via the Library of Congress website, improving timely availability of the text and annotations.
Taxpayers will no longer fund mandatory hardbound print runs after the October 2025 term, saving printing and distribution expenses for the government.
The Library of Congress and congressional staff can publish and update the Constitution Annotated faster and at lower ongoing operational cost by shifting to digital-first publication and distribution.
People without reliable internet access or who rely on physical books (including rural and low-income communities) will face reduced accessibility to the Annotated Constitution when mandated print copies end.
Libraries, courts, schools, and some individuals that previously received guaranteed free hardbound copies may lose that statutory entitlement and have to obtain copies by other means or budgets.
The Library of Congress will assume responsibility for long-term digital preservation and website maintenance, creating potential ongoing costs and operational burdens for the institution.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Replaces mandated printed Constitution Annotated volumes and pocket-part supplements with digital-only editions hosted on the Library of Congress website and ends statutory print/distribution obligations after Oct 2025.
Replaces statutory requirements to print and distribute hardbound editions and pocket-part supplements of the Constitution Annotated with a digital-only publication model. The Librarian of Congress must produce and host decennial revised digital editions (starting after the October 2031 Supreme Court term) and digital cumulative pocket-part supplements (starting after the October 2025 term) on a Library of Congress public website; mandatory print runs and statutory distribution allocations end after the October 2025 term.
Official title: To direct the Librarian of Congress to promote the more cost-effective, efficient, and expanded availability of the Annotated Constitution and pocket-part supplements by replacing the hardbound versions with digital versions.
Introduced February 12, 2025 by Stephanie I. Bice · Last progress April 1, 2025