The Case for Reinvigorating the Paperwork Reduction Act
38 Pages Posted: 5 Apr 2019
Date Written: March 13, 2019
Abstract
The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) has not been modified since 1995. In that time, the burden of providing information to the government as required by law, and government-mandated recordkeeping, has continually increased. Paperwork requirements can have deleterious impacts on businesses, universities, and individuals trying to secure government benefits to which they are legally entitled. Although the PRA seeks to reduce these burdens, it itself sets up a bureaucratically cumbersome process that likely deters useful small-scale information collections. This article makes the case for reinvigorating the PRA. A reboot of the PRA should contain three elements: a mechanism for better understanding the impact of paperwork, including the cumulative burden; a revised system that allows greater scrutiny of more burdensome and important information collection requirements and less time spent on more routine ones; and additional flexibility for agencies seeking to comply with the PRA and for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs seeking to enforce it.
Keywords: Paperwork, Regulation, Bureaucracy, Paperwork Reduction Act
JEL Classification: H83, K23, K32
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation