Date: Mon, 13 Mar 1995 12:56:10 -0500 (EST) From: James McDonough Subject: EPIN Summary ********************************************************** =20 SUMMARY OF ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWSLETTER VOL. 5, NO. 5; March 10, 1995 ********************************************************** INDEX: 1. DUNN FILES BILL TO REFORM GPO, CENTRALIZE FEDERAL PRINTING 2. REP. DUNN'S STATEMENTS ON GPO ARE CONTRADICTORY, CONFLICTING 3. DUNN BILL IS ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH COPIER MANUFACTURERS **************************************************************** For more information on the complete ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWSLETTER or to receive a FREE sample of the complete printed copy send an email message to EPIN Publishing at epin@access.digex.net. Include your snail mail address. ***************************************************************** 1. DUNN FILES BILL TO REFORM GPO, CENTRALIZE FEDERAL PRINTING: Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-WA, introduced (2/23) legislation to end all Executive Branch printing operations and in-house printing by the Government Printing Office (GPO), and abolish the Joint Committee on Printing. In a statement before the Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittee on the day she filed her bill (H.R. 1024), Dunn predicted her measure would save the federal government approximately $1 billion over a five year period. The bill was referred to the House Oversight Committee. Dunn is a member of that Committee and is now in discussions with its chairman to set a date for hearings. The House leadership, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich, is reportedly supporting the bill. The Dunn bill would require that most government printing be handled by the private sector through competitive bidding. The bill would require all branches of government and all departments, agencies, and entities of the Executive Branch to procure their printing through GPO. The bill is supported by the Printing Industries of America (PIA), the nation's largest trade organization.=20 2. REP. DUNN'S STATEMENTS ON GPO ARE CONTRADICTORY, CONFLICTING: Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-WA, and her office have been confusing and often contradictory in many of their statements regarding her bill to reform the Government Printing Office. In a Dear Colleague letter she sent on February 2, Dunn asked her fellow representatives to join her in "supporting the elimination of one of the most wasteful, excessively bloated government agencies: the Government Printing Office." In the letter, she said the federal government prints $3 billion worth of documents yearly=FE"work that can be done for one-third as much in the private sector." Three weeks later, in her statement before the Legislative Branch Subcommittee on Appropriations she stated that the "vast majority=FEbetween 75% and 80%=FEof government printing is already contracted out by the Government Printing Office." Although on Feb. 2, Dunn called the GPO "one of the lost wasteful, excessively bloated" government agency, she admitted on Feb. 23 before the Subcommittee that centralized procurement as handled by GPO "is clearly working well....in fact, studies show that GPO's current procurement system can secure work for half of what it costs agencies to print in-house." 3. DUNN BILL IS ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH COPIER MANUFACTURERS: The Dunn bill (H.R. 1024), which is aimed at privatizing all government printing, most likely will run into resistence from the manufacturers of electronic printers (also called electrostatic copiers), and from federal agencies which seek more control over printing and copying. Manufacturers like Xerox, which produces the Docutech, will probably resist the attempt of the Dunn bill to shut down/and or limit the independent printing and duplicating operations that have sprung up around the agencies. The electronic printer has the capacity to print and bind book size publications, which traditionally have been the domain of the printer. The printing industry maintains that these $250,000 machines are highly inefficient for large runs. On the other hand, the electronic printer industry argues that society is moving toward electronic storage of information and print-on-demand, and that there is no longer any need for large print runs, requiring transporation and storage costs of the printed material. *************************************************************** ARCHIVE: EPIN Summaries are being archived on the Electronic Frontier Foundation system. To access past summaries, use the following addresses: =20 ftp.eff.org, /pub/Publications/E-journals/EPIN/ gopher.eff.org, 1/Publications/E-journals/EPIN gopher://gopher.eff.org/hh/Publications/E-journals/EPIN/ http://www.eff.org/pub/Publications/E-journals/EPIN/ ***************************************************************** James McDonough, Editor Electronic Public Information Newsletter epin@access.digex.net; Tel:/Fax: (301) 365-3621