As part of the republican's "contract," the House of Representatives is
expected to introduce a new bill on the so called "paperwork reduction
act" any day. This bill, which is only available in draft (it hasn't
been introduced and it is not available in thomas or the house gopher),
contains (as of yesterday), a provision reportedly inserted for West
Publishing what would severely limit the government's rights to
disseminate or provide public access to databases such as the JURIS
database. This is reportedly in response to litigation under FOIA by Tax
Analysts, which West is afraid it will lose. However, the impact of the
language appears to go quite a bit further than the TA/WEST FOIA case.
The bill will be referred to and marked up by the House Committee on
Government Reform and Oversight (202/225-5075). The staff person I was
referred to was Kevin Sabo, who is chief counsel to the committee. The
subcommittee referral is to the subcommittee on national economic growth,
natural resources and regulatory oversight (i think this is the correct
title), telephone number 202-225-4407.
More later. jamie
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James Love, TAP; internet: love@tap.org
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036; v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176
12 Church Road, Ardmore, PA 19003; v. 610/658-0880; f. 610/649-4066
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