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A Look Ahead

ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ Supports Greater Access to Office of Legal Counsel Opinions

ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ joined a coalition of organizations on aÌýletterÌýto the House and Senate Appropriations Committees asking them to include language in their Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bills to require the Department of Justice to provide a list of the titles, authors, and dates of issuance of all final Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinions.

OLC is tasked with providing authoritative legal advice to the president, the Attorney General, and other executive branch agencies. However, the executive branch often withholds from Congress and the public even the most basic information about their reports, such as when and to whom they are issued, the subject of their analyses, and even how many are currently in effect. This hinders Congressional oversight as well as public knowledge of the OLC’s work.

Due to national security and privacy concerns, not allÌýOLC opinions can or should be released to the public without any redactions. However, other government agencies with similar national security and privacy requirementsÌýhave found workable solutions to provide information about their reports. For example, the Department of Defense Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office release information, such as a report title or report number, in cases when some or all of a report’s contents must remain nonpublic.

While the House Appropriations Committee marked up its FY 2020 CJS bill on May 22, the Senate Appropriations Committee has not yet marked up its bill.ÌýWe urge the Committee to require the Department of Justice to begin reporting a list of all final opinions.

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Submitted by John Edwards and Lynn Murray

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed the Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act (UELMA) on May 8. ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ Members Karen Wallace, Rebecca Lutkenhaus, and John Edwards were instrumental in the enactment. They worked with Drake’s Legislative Practice Center, Commissioner David Walker (Drake Emeriti Law Professor), Representative Jon Jacobsen, and others. The advocates .

In Texas, thanks to the tireless efforts of ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ past president Barbara Bintliff, Governor GregÌýAbbottÌýsigned UELMAÌýon May 24.ÌýFor three legislative sessions, Barbara recruited legislative sponsors, and she provided testimony about the importance of UELMA at committee hearings. One story she shares from the 2017 legislative session relates how she won over the Secretary of State causing him to drop his opposition mere minutes before their testimony at one committee hearing.ÌýBarbara was assisted by the legislative clinic at UT, and she enjoyed the universal backing of library associations, both law and non-law, who all endorsed the adoption of UELMA.

UELMA has been enacted in 21 states and the District of Columbia.

GPLLA Volunteers with Books through Bars

Submitted by Janet Peros

On Saturday, May 18th, a Greater Philadelphia Law Library Association (GPLLA) contingent volunteered at Books Through Bars in Philadelphia selecting books requested and packaging books to send to incarcerated individuals in PA and neighboring states after a brief orientation.

Those that attended felt it was a rewarding experience and we are hoping to make this a regular/ongoing event (every few months) so that others in our chapter might also get involved.

A Look Ahead

Despite White House Calls to Eliminate Funding, Legal Services Corporation Proposes Budget Increase

For the third consecutive year, President Trump has for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), the independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974 to provide financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The proposal to defund LSC comes as LSC celebrates its 45th anniversary as theÌýnation’s single largest funder of civil legal aid.

As the need for legal assistance grows, law libraries and legal information professionals are taking on new roles and services to support the administration of justice and provide access to trustworthy legal information. LSC promotes innovative partnerships and collaborations with other funders of civil legal aid, allowing providers to make the best use of limited dollars. DefundingÌýLSC would threaten equitable access to information and access to justice for millions of Americans.

Fortunately, the President’s budget is a proposal, not law; the U.S. Constitution designates the “power of the purse” as a function of Congress.ÌýIn Fiscal Year 2019,ÌýCongress funded LSC at $415 million, $5 million more than FY 2018 and a $30 million increase over FY 2017. This year, LSC has submitted a forÌý$593 million, an increase over last year’s request of $564.8 million.

In reaction to the President’s proposal, , “I believe that the bipartisan support LSC has enjoyed in Congress for almost 45 years will continue long into the future. We are grateful that Congress recognizes LSC’s vital importance in ensuring equal access to justice and has increased our funding in each of the last two fiscal years.”

Continuous improvement in access to justice is one of ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ’s core values and one our public policy priorities. ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ will continue to support full funding for LSC.

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A Look Ahead

ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ President to Testify Before the House Appropriations Subcommittee TodayÌý

ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ President Femi Cadmus will this afternoon before theÌýU.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on theÌýLegislative Branch in support of the funding requests of the Government Publishing Office (GPO) and Library of Congress.ÌýCadmus’ Ìýcalls for full funding of the requested $31.3 million for the GPO’s Public Information Programs account that supports the Federal Depository Library Program. She will also request support for the Law Library of Congress’ $18 million request so that it may complete its project to archive its global legal research reports and continue its digitization efforts. The hearing is expected to begin at 1:30 p.m. Eastern and Cadmus is scheduled to be the first witness.Ìý.

Bicameral Net Neutrality Bill IntroducedÌý

House and Senate lawmakers introduced the Save the Internet Act (/) to restore the strong protections for net neutrality and broadband access guaranteed by the 2015 Open Internet Order. The Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the Open Internet Order in late 2017 despiteÌýand many others.

The Save the Internet Act was voted out of the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee last week and faces a full Committee vote this week.ÌýÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ strongly supports the legislation and urges theÌýHouse to pass the bill without any harmful amendments or attempts to weaken it.

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A Look Ahead

Bill to Free PACER Reintroduced in the HouseÌý

ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵÌýapplaudedÌýthe introduction of the Electronic Court Records Reform Act (), introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on February 13, 2019 by House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Doug Collins (R-Ga.) and Congressman Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), chair of the Congressional Transparency Caucus. This legislation would, for the first time, allow free access to electronic federal court records through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system and improve the efficiency and transparency of the courts.

ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ coordinated a letterÌýsigned by 15 other organizations–including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Data Coalition, and the Project on Government Oversight–urging passage of the bill. In addition,Ìýthe Association of Law Libraries of Upstate New York and the Law Library Association of Greater New York, along withÌýindividual law libraries in House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler’s (D-NY) district, wrote to the House Judiciary Committee urging the Committee to hold a markup of the bill as soon as possible.

Congress Considers Agency Funding Levels for Fiscal Year 2020

While the funding fight for fiscal year (FY) 2019 only just concluded, Congress is already well into considering the FY 2020 requests of federal agencies.

On February 27, the Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) Acting Deputy Director Herb Jackson before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch about the GPO’sÌý$117 millionÌýrequest. During the hearing, Jackson announced his upcoming March 31 retirement.ÌýOn March 7, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden will about funding for the Library of Congress, including the Law Library of Congress.

ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ carefully tracks the appropriations requests of GPO and the Library of Congress, as well as theÌýthe Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Archives and Records Administration. These agencies support the lifecycle of government information, including greater permanent public access and preservation.

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A Look Ahead

New Congress Considers Transparency Legislation

While Congress spent much of January focused on reopening the federal government from the longest shutdown in history, theÌýHouse of Representatives and Senate continued to attend to the daily business of legislating–including holding hearings and passing bills.

On January 17, ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ celebrated passage of the bipartisanÌýGrant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency (GREAT) ActÌý() in the House. The GREAT Act would modernize federal grant reporting and increase transparency for grant-making agencies and the public. It awaits action in the Senate.ÌýÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ also applauded the reintroduction of the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (, )Ìýto improve access to reports mandated by Congress through the establishment of a searchable central website managed by the Government Publishing Office. This bipartisan, bicameral legislationÌýwas introduced by Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) on January 19 and January 23,Ìýrespectively.

These legislative actions come on the heels of the enactment of the OPEN Government Data Act, which was signed by President Trump on January 14 as part of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (). The new law promotes greater distribution of and public access to federal government data by defining data, machine-reliability, and open license in government; creating standards for making federal government data available to the public; and requiring the federal government to use open data to improve decision-making.

While the second round of negotiations to fund the government for the current fiscal year will undoubtedly dominate the headlines in the coming weeks, ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ expects the introduction of additional legislation supporting a more open and transparent government. Specifically,Ìýwe anticipate the reintroduction of the Electronic Court Records Reform ActÌýthatÌýwould improve the federal courts’ electronic records system and require that all federal court documents be searchable, machine-readable, and available free of charge through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system.

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A Look Ahead

ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ Priorities in the New Congress

Today is the start of the 116th Congress, with all of the pomp and circumstance opening day brings to Capitol Hill.ÌýThere are more than 100 new members in this Congressional class, including forty lawyers.ÌýDuring the next few weeks, as Committee assignments are finalized, staff are hired, and members of Congress settle into their offices on Capitol Hill, we will shareÌýÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ’s Public Policy PrioritiesÌýwith Congressional offices and speak to staff about the importance ofÌýaccess to justice, balance in copyright law, greater access to government information, openness in government, and protection of privacy. You can help ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ’s advocacy efforts by getting to know your members of Congress and confidentially sharing any connections you have with your lawmakers via ourÌý.

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