S. 574, The Plain Writing Act of 2009
- This bill has been mooted by the passage of another bill on the same subject or by other events. Check 'Related Bills' below to see if other bills on this subject have been passed into law. Mooted: 10/14/2010.
- This item is from the 111th Congress (2009-2010) and is no longer current. Comments, voting, and wiki editing have been disabled, and the cost/savings estimate has been frozen.
Comparing revision saved on June 24, 2009, 19:51:57 (webmaster), with revision saved on December 10, 2009, 08:22:33 (webmaster):
S. 574 would enhance citizen access to Government information and services by establishing that Government documents issued to the public must be written clearly.
== Detailed Summary ==
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Plain Writing Act of 2009 - Requires each executive agency to use plain writing in every document (other than a regulation) issued to the public, including documents and other text released in electronic form.
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 writing guidelines developed by the Plain Language Action and Information Network or their own guidance as long as it is consistent with such guidelines.
Requires each agency head to report to specified congressional committees on how the agency intends to: (1) communicate the requirements of this Act to employees; (2) train employees in plain writing; (3) meet the plain writing 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 such committees.
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== Status of the Legislation ==
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Latest Major Action: 4/1/2009: Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee12/9/2009: Placed on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 222.
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== Points in Favor ==
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== Points Against ==
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Visitor Comments
David Zetland
April 13, 2009, 11:57pm (report abuse)This bill may be worth its weight in gold (or something more valuable, if it's short and clearly written), since laws that citizens can understand will be much better!
(of course, I wonder how effective it will be!)
MCW
April 14, 2009, 2:44pm (report abuse)Now if we can just get the citizens to READ the documents, we'll be taking a step forward...
Sounds like this may be a way to create more paper, not less. They'll write it in "Government English" first, then some poor dude is going to have to 'translate' it into "clear language."
Sludgemeister
April 15, 2009, 10:42am (report abuse)What kind of sentence should be passed on someone who does not write the right sentence?
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From the Blog
So You Think You Can Get Government in Plain English?
One of the bills featured in this morning’s WashingtonWatch.com Digest is S. 574, the Plain Writing Act of 2009. It would be great to get government to write clearly about what they do and what they want us to do. But the fact is that plain Engli...