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Collins, Cohen Bill to Increase Government Transparency Passes House

February 27, 2017

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — The Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act, introduced by Congressman Doug Collins (R-GA) and Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) to increase government transparency, passed the House of Representatives today. The legislation now goes to the U.S. Senate for consideration. Video of Congressman Cohen speaking in support of the bill is available here.

"Americans have a right to know what their government is doing and their government has a duty to be as transparent as possible," said Congressman Cohen.I am pleased our bipartisan Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act passed the House. I appreciate all of Congressman Collins' work to reopen the government's books and help ensure that all Americans have access to this information."

The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) was enacted to bring relief to veterans, retirees, small businesses, and other individuals whose limited resources would prevent them from seeking redress against the government. EAJA requires federal agencies to reimburse plaintiffs for legal fees incurred through suits in which the agency pursued an unjustified position.

Since 1995, federal agencies have not been required to report on EAJA reimbursements, meaning that the public has no access to how much agencies are paying out and whether the payments are justified.

The Open Book Act would bring transparency to the EAJA process by requiring the Administrative Conference of the United States to maintain an online database that makes EAJA data from every federal agency available to the public. Making this information public would also help Congress better conduct oversight on government spending.

Co-sponsors of H.R. 1033 include Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), and Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.).