PRINTER'S NO. 710
No. 675 Session of 1981
INTRODUCED BY ZWIKL, DORR, BRANDT, L. E. SMITH, DeVERTER,
F. E. TAYLOR, J. L. WRIGHT, SPITZ, PRATT, PISTELLA, COCHRAN,
RAPPAPORT, GRIECO, NOYE, McCALL, KOWALYSHYN, DAWIDA,
CALTAGIRONE, McINTYRE, RITTER, DAVIES, DOMBROWSKI, MILLER,
DeWEESE, BROWN, STEWART, LETTERMAN, KUKOVICH, WENGER,
E. Z. TAYLOR, COLE, GANNON, SALVATORE, HOEFFEL, HONAMAN,
BELFANTI, GRUITZA, BURD, SNYDER, KANUCK, DAIKELER, SAURMAN,
McVERRY, B. SMITH, HAYES, CESSAR, SERAFINI, BELARDI, COSLETT,
DININNI, MANMILLER, FLECK, GEIST, SPENCER, LIVENGOOD, FEE
AND CAPPABIANCA, FEBRUARY 18, 1981
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 18, 1981
AN ACT
1 Establishing a procedure for the control of Commonwealth forms
2 and publications, imposing duties on the Department of
3 General Services and the Secretary of Budget and
4 Administration and establishing a legislative oversight
5 committee.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Short title.
9 This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Forms and
10 Publications Management Act."
11 Section 2. Definitions.
12 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
13 have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the
14 meanings given to them in this section:
15 "Agency." All administrative departments, boards and
1 commissions, independent boards and commissions and the State
2 colleges and universities.
3 "Department." The Department of General Services.
4 "Forms." A document with a standard format for the
5 systematic and repetitive collection, maintenance or
6 transmission of information.
7 "Management officer." A Forms and Publications Management
8 Officer designated pursuant to this act.
9 "Periodicals." Publications made at regular or irregular
10 intervals, commonly using the same title.
11 "Publications." Forms, periodical, pamphlets or similar
12 printed material, except those reports specifically required by
13 law.
14 "Secretary." The Secretary of Budget and Administration, or,
15 in case the office is abolished, such other person as designated
16 by the Governor.
17 Section 3. Findings and policy.
18 (a) Findings:
19 (1) The General Assembly finds that in the Commonwealth,
20 businesses, particularly small businesses, and the public,
21 have been increasingly burdened by the forms and paperwork
22 required by State agencies.
23 (2) Confusing forms, duplicative reporting requirements
24 and other unnecessary paperwork, increases costs to
25 businesses, especially small businesses and consumers, and
26 contribute to inefficient government operations.
27 (3) Further, many governmental forms and publications
28 have become outmoded, others are reproduced in such manner as
29 to be overcostly and still others are produced or reproduced
30 by different departments causing overlapping and duplication
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1 of effort.
2 (4) In addition, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
3 produces pamphlets, periodicals and similar publications that
4 are unneeded, costly or self-serving.
5 (b) Policy.--It is hereby declared to be the policy of the
6 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that all forms, publications,
7 pamphlets, periodicals and similar materials be reviewed and
8 revised by the Forms and Publications Management Officer of each
9 agency as provided in this act subject to the approval of the
10 Secretary of Budget and Administration.
11 Section 4. Management plan.
12 Every agency shall establish a Forms and Publications
13 Management Plan for the purpose of insuring that the agency uses
14 only those forms and distributes only those publications
15 necessary for its efficient operation.
16 Section 5. Forms and Publications Management Officer.
17 (a) Designation.--The head of every agency shall designate
18 an existing officer or employee of the agency to be the Forms
19 and Publications Management Officer.
20 (b) Duties.--
21 (1) The management officer shall compose and revise, as
22 necessary, the forms and publications management plan for the
23 agency subject to the approval of the Secretary of Budget and
24 Administration. The plan shall be administered by the
25 management officer, subject to this act.
26 (2) The management officer shall approve for use only
27 those forms which are necessary for the efficient operation
28 of the agency and which:
29 (i) Ask only for information lawfully required to
30 fulfill the mission of the agency.
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1 (ii) Do not impose an undue burden on persons
2 completing the form.
3 (iii) Do not substantially duplicate other forms of
4 the agency or those of other agencies.
5 (iv) Are brief, plainly written, well-designed and
6 easily completed.
7 (3) The management officer shall devote particular
8 attention to the special burdens faced by individuals and
9 small businesses in responding to requests for information.
10 To minimize these burdens, the management officer is to
11 insure that agencies forego uniform reporting requirements
12 and rely on sampling, reduced frequency of reporting,
13 differing compliance standards or exemptions whenever
14 possible.
15 (4) The management officer shall maintain an inventory
16 of all forms and publications in use or distributed by his
17 agency. Forms and publications shall be identified in
18 accordance with a systematic standard identification system
19 to be devised by the Department of General Services.
20 (5) The management officer shall prepare an annual
21 paperwork cost estimate, consisting of an estimate of the
22 total number of hours required of the public to comply with
23 the agency's requests for information. The estimate shall
24 itemize each form used, describe its purpose and identify
25 those affected by it. The secretary of the department or head
26 of the bureau or commission shall review and may modify their
27 proposed estimate. After the secretary of the department or
28 head of the bureau or commission has approved a paperwork
29 estimate, new forms or requests for forms and publications
30 may be approved and adopted only by the Secretary of Budget
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1 and Administration, upon the request of the head of the
2 agency.
3 (6) Forms and publications shall be reviewed within two
4 years after their initial issuance and then at least once
5 every five years. Following review, those forms which no
6 longer meet the standards set forth in section 5(b)(2) shall
7 be eliminated. Publications which are no longer required to
8 accomplish the lawful purpose of the agency shall also be
9 eliminated.
10 Section 6. Implementation of plan.
11 (a) Approval by the secretary.--Each agency shall file a
12 copy of its forms and publications management plan with the
13 Paperwork Oversight Committee on or before February 1, 1982.
14 Only those forms and publications listed in an agency's
15 management plan shall be used or distributed by the agency after
16 January 1, 1983.
17 (b) Duties of Secretary of Budget and Administration.--The
18 Secretary of Budget and Administration shall:
19 (1) Review and approve those management plans which meet
20 the provisions of this act.
21 (2) Take any steps necessary to prevent duplication
22 including the assignment to a particular agency of lead
23 responsibility for the collection of certain types of
24 information.
25 (3) Monitor the administration of each forms management
26 plan to insure adherence to its provisions.
27 (4) Report annually to the Governor on implementation of
28 this section and control of the paperwork burden generally.
29 (c) Duties of the department.--The Department of General
30 Services shall:
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1 (1) Assist each agency in the development and
2 implementation of its forms and publications management plan.
3 (2) Assist each agency in coordinating its management
4 plan with the plans of other agencies.
5 (3) Eliminate duplication in requests for information by
6 establishing an information locator system, which shall list
7 all the types of information collected by agencies and shall
8 be available for use by all agencies.
9 (4) Seek to inform the public and broaden public and
10 governmental comment by preparing and publishing the
11 Pennsylvania Bulletin an annual paperwork calendar of
12 significant requests for information. This calendar shall be
13 based on the information contained in the paperwork budgets
14 of the agencies.
15 Section 7. Paperwork Oversight Committee.
16 (a) Establishment.--There is hereby established a permanent
17 joint legislative executive committee to oversee all rules and
18 regulations and amendments thereto proposed in connection with
19 this act. The committee shall be known as the Paperwork
20 Oversight Committee.
21 (b) Composition.--The committee shall consist of the
22 following four members:
23 (1) Chairman of the House Committee on State Government.
24 (2) Chairman of the Senate Committee on State
25 Government.
26 (3) An appointee of the Secretary of Budget and
27 Administration familiar with forms management.
28 (4) An appointee of the Secretary of General Services
29 familiar with printing.
30 (c) Powers and duties.--The committee shall review and
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1 comment on the forms management plan and cost estimate of each
2 agency, prior to its submission to the secretary for final
3 approval. The committee shall, within 30 days upon receipt of
4 each forms management plan, forward such plans, along with their
5 comments, to the Secretary of Budget and Administration for
6 final approval.
7 Section 8. Construction of act.
8 No part of this act shall be construed to restrict any
9 official from issuing information to newspapers, magazines,
10 radio and television stations, nor to restrict any official from
11 corresponding with individual citizens.
12 Section 9. Effective date.
13 This act shall take effect January 1, 1982.
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