H.R. 195 would amend federal law to prohibit the Government Printing Office (GPO) from furnishing a printed copy of the Federal Register without charge to a Member of Congress or any employee of the U.S. government unless specifically requested. The Federal Register compiles and organizes thousands of rules, regulations, executive orders, presidential documents, and notices generated by federal departments and agencies.
Using information from the National Archives and Records Administration and GPO, CBO expects that implementing the bill would end the distribution of about 1,000 copies of the Federal Register that are distributed daily for free. The average Federal Register has 300 pages and costs $4.50 to produce and distribute. CBO estimates that eliminating those free copies of the Federal Register would reduce spending that is subject to appropriation by $1 million annually. Enacting the legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 195 would not increase direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 195 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
On February 22, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 195 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on February 14, 2017. The two versions of legislation are identical, and CBO’s estimates of the budgetary effects are the same.
