GPO and OMB announce a new compact for government printing

Information Outlook,  August, 2003  

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Bruce R. James, public printer of the United States, and Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) jointly announced an innovative agreement that will free executive branch agencies to choose their own printers while saving taxpayer dollars. The agreement will also empower the Government Printing Office (GPO) to maximize public access to federal information.

Daniels said that GPO printed this year's federal budget at a savings of 23 percent. "Federal agencies will now be empowered to select printers that provide the best deal for the taxpayers' dollar," he said. "At the same time, the agreement addresses the long-standing 'fugitive documents' problem, in which roughly half of all government documents do not make it into the federal depository library program."

James added that the new system will "provide the American public with better access to more government information than ever before. The government is now moving the way the private sector has been moving, relying increasingly on electronic information technology to create and disseminate information products. The agreement we've reached with OMB recognizes this trend by using technology to increase public access to information while providing a system for efficiently managing the buying of the government's declining printing needs, within the framework of current law."

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