Book Description

"Advisory committees are a major source of information for many departments and agencies. Some committees are created by statute, some by Executive order, and others by agency authority. Regardless of their beginning, however, they are used in almost every policy area of the Federal Government. The Federal Advisory Act has several key provisions: First, through a reporting requirement, it identifies the location, function and costs of advisory committees in the executive branch. In hearings leading to the passage of this legislation, it was found that the Federal Government did not know how many advisory committees existed, who had responsibility for them, or what functions they performed. Thus, the reporting requirement provides an annual inventory. The report requires that 'advisory committee members and their affiliations be specified. This serves two functions: (1) to identify those individuals who are giving advice and recommendations to the Federal Government, and (2) as a means of broadening the representation on advisory committees to include varied points of view and interests. Second, to combat the problem of a lack of central control and responsibility, the act established within the Office of Management and Budget a Committee Management Secretariat with responsibilities for all matters relating to advisory committees. This arrangement facilitates centralized decisionmaking and accountability. Thus, OMB has been assigned overall responsibility for the 1,439 committees identified as of the last calendar year. Standing committees of the Congress also have certain responsibilities under the act. Third, except in certain instances, the act calls for open meetings of all advisory committees. The Congress recognized that while total open government is not possible, closed advisory committee meetings should be the exception and not the rule. The act also deals with advance notice of meetings, balanced representation of membership, meaningful minutes or transcripts, the justification or discontinuance of advisory committees now in existence, nonestablishment of new advisory committees if an existing Federal agency or advisory committee can do the job, and limitation of these committees to advice, rather than policy decisionmaking and implementation"--Pages 1/2.