Equitable access to official legal information—including laws, regulations, and court opinions—is essential to the legal information profession.
Federal Agency Appropriations
The federal government agencies responsible for the lifecycle of government information include the Library of Congress, the Law Library of Congress, the U.S. Government Publishing Office, and the National Archives and Records Administration. These agencies need sufficient federal funding to meet their important responsibilities to provide access to federal legal information and to preserve legal materials.
Fiscal Year 2023
- Written testimony the Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, In support of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 funding requests of the Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the Library of Congress (May 20, 2022)
- Written testimony to the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, Regarding the FY 2023 funding requests of the GPO and the Library of Congress (May 16, 2022)
Fiscal Year 2022
- Written testimony to the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, In support of the Fiscal Year 2022 funding requests of the Government Publishing Office and the Library of Congress (May 5, 2021)
Federal Depository Library Program
The U.S. Government Publishing Office runs the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), which distributes print and digital government information to more than 1,100 participating libraries across the United States. Approximately 200 law libraries participate in the FDLP, providing public access to federal government information and federal legal materials.
- Comments to the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO), On the GPO Task Force on a Digital FDLP Draft Report (October 6, 2022)
Universal Citation
AALL’s Universal Citation Guide includes recommendations for universal citation rules for judicial decisions, statutes, and administrative regulations. The Universal Citation Guide contains AALL’s recommendations for universal citation rules for judicial decisions, statutes, and administrative regulations.
Other Issues
AALL works on other issues that promote access to government information, including increased online access to laws, regulations, and court opinions.
- Comments to the Administration Conference of the United States (ACUS), In response to the ACUS Request for Comments on the Disclosure of Agency Legal Materials Project (July 12, 2022)
- Comments to the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO), On the GPO Draft Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2023–2027 (April 27, 2022)
- Comments to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Regarding the development of the IMLS’ 2022–2026 Strategic Plan (August 2, 2021)
- Comments to the Administrative Conference of the U.S., Committee on Judicial Review, Regarding agency litigation webpages project draft proposed recommendations (November 9, 2020)
- Comments to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Regarding the Electronic Public Access Public User Group meeting summary and recommendations (June 16, 2020)
- Written statement to the General Services Administration, Regarding modernizing services for regulation management (84 F.R. 72364, Docket No. 2019-0002) (June 1, 2020)
- Remarks of Michelle Cosby before the General Services Administration’s event, Modernizing Services for Regulation Management (April 30, 2020)
- Letter to Chair Lofgren and Ranking Member Davis, In support of Titles IV and V of the Moving Our Democracy and Congressional Operations Towards Modernization (MODCOM) Resolution of 2019, H. Res. 756 (February 3, 2020)
- Letter to Chairman Graham and Ranking Member Feinstein, To urge Chairman Graham and Ranking Member Feinstein to support the Electronic Court Records Reform Act (October 15, 2019)
- Statement for the hearing record, “The Federal Judiciary in the 21st Century: Ensuring the Public’s Right of Access to the Courts” (September 26, 2019)
- Letter to Speaker Pelosi, Republican Leader McCarthy, and Members of the House of Representatives, In support of the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, H.R. 736 (July 16, 2019)
- Letter to Chairman Graham and Ranking Member Feinstein, In support of the Electronic Court Records Reform Act (February 14, 2019)
- Letter to Chairman Nadler and Ranking Member Collins, In support of the Electronic Court Records Reform Act (February 12, 2019)
- Amicus brief, In support of cross-appellees, National Veterans Legal Services Program et al. v. United States (January 23, 2019)
- Letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, In support of the Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency (GREAT) Act of 2019, H.R. 150 (January 14, 2019)