Today the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) asked all federal executive branch agencies to stop receiving the Federal Register in print format. OMB Memorandum M-11-18, Implementation of the SAVE Award in the President's FY 2012 Budget (April 25, 2011) [PDF] states:
The Federal Register is the daily publication of the Government that the public and Federal employees can easily access on-line via the Internet. However, by the end of Fiscal Year 20 I 0 Government offices still held over 4,700 subscriptions for print versions of the Federal Register, resulting in unnecessary printing and postage costs. The proposed Government-wide cancellation of these subscriptions in the SAVE Award recommendation is expected to save taxpayers $4 million or more annually.
The new policy is the result of a federal employee suggestion submitted for the SAVE awards, which the OMB memorandum describes as "an Administration initiative that asks Federal employees to submit cost-cutting recommendations that will make government more effective and efficient while ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely."
The Federal Register will still be available in print format as well as online. The memorandum affects only executive branch offices.
The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe reports on the change in his Federal Eye blog post Federal government no longer subscribing to its own journal. (The words "in print" should be appended to that headline, IMHO. Feds have been using, and will continue to use, the online version.--PG) The Washington Post reported the winning SAVE idea back in March, in the article Saving the government a million here, a million there and more.
More from the White House blog: President Obama Meets the SAVE Award Winner, 21 March 2011.
Comments