New From AALL: A Report on GPO Funding Legislation

From a AALL Washington Blawg Post by Julie M. Strandlie, Director, Government Relations:

The Senate Appropriations Committee, late Thursday evening (9/15), considered the Legislative Branch appropriations bill, which includes funding for the Government Printing Office (GPO).   The Subcommittee did not mark up the bill, instead sending it straight to the full committee for consideration.

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For GPO, the Senate Appropriations Committee-approved bill includes a total of $116.8 million, $8 million more than the House-passed bill ($108.1 million) and $18.2 million less than FY 2011.  The Senate bill includes $500,000 for the Revolving Fund (the House had zeroed it out), $35,000,000 in Salaries and Expenses (the House provided $33.5 million) and $81.3 million for Congressional Printing and Binding (the House provided $74.6 million).  Here is a detailed chart showing funding trends (losses) since FY 2010.  As you can see,the Revolving Fund had already taken a significant hit, going from $12.7 million in FY 2010 to $1.6 million in FY 2011.

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Unlike the House, the Senate Report includes very supportive comments regarding GPO’s work toward efficiencies and modernization, and for FDsys and the FDLP.  While some believe that cutting print editions will save large amounts of money, the Senate Appropriations Committee acknowledged “approximately 70 percent of the GPO’s budget represents the prepress cost of congressional publications for online access and print production.”

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Filed under: Funding, News