Criminal Law Library Blog
Introduction
This proposed legislation is more consequential for libraries and government-information professionals than its title might initially suggest. It is not simply an internal GPO housekeeping bill; it would substantially rewrite the statutory framework governing the Federal Depository Library Program, digital preservation, permanent public access, cataloging, and the National Collection. In this post the strongest emphasis is on permanent public access, preservation of born digital government information, the modernization of the FDLP, and the implications for law librarians and researchers. Those features distinguish this bill from what might otherwise appear to readers to be a largely administrative modernization of GPO.
The legislation represents a broad effort to bring the statutory framework governing the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) into closer alignment with a government information environment increasingly centered on digital publication, electronic access, preservation, and data. Much of the governing language in Title 44 of the U.S. Code was written for an era in which “government publishing” largely meant printing and distributing physical documents. The bill contains four principal titles: Sales Programs; Public Information Programs; GPO Operational Modernization; and Preparation of Constitution Annotated.
Modernizing public access to government information
Perhaps the most significant part of H.R. 9342 for librarians and researchers is Title II, Public Information Programs. It would rewrite substantial portions of Chapter 19 of Title 44 governing the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).
The legislation expressly states that one purpose of the chapter is to ensure the public’s right to free, equitable, and convenient access to Government public information. It establishes statutory recognition for a group of GPO public-information activities, including the Federal Depository Library Program, Cataloging and Access Services Program, Online System of Access, National Collection, preservation activities, and public sales.
Significantly, the bill adopts a much broader concept of “Government public information.” It encompasses federal publications and information resources regardless of physical form or medium, including textual, numerical, graphic, cartographic, electronic, and audiovisual information. It also expressly defines “permanent public access” as making government information discoverable, available and accessible to the public on an indefinite and continuing basis without charge. That language moves the statute away from a framework centered principally upon documents and printing toward one concerned with the entire lifecycle of government information.
Federal Depository Library Program
H.R. 9342 would substantially update the FDLP.
Federal agencies would be required to notify the Superintendent of Documents about both tangible and digital government public information they issue and to collaborate with the Superintendent to ensure that digital information remains permanently accessible. Classified and confidential information would remain excepted.
The legislation also explicitly recognizes digital only depository libraries. Such libraries would have to be freely accessible to the public and provide public services while satisfying the other statutory requirements of the program.
Depository libraries could substitute digital information for tangible publications in accordance with GPO policies. Regional depositories could share responsibilities across state lines under approved arrangements, and the Superintendent would establish at least four multistate collection service areas to promote collaborative collection and service coordination.
These provisions are particularly important because they would place practices associated with the transition from print collections to distributed digital access more explicitly into federal statute.
Cataloging, discovery, and preservation
The bill would establish detailed statutory authority for cataloging and access services. The Superintendent of Documents would maintain a comprehensive online catalog covering historical and current government information in both tangible and digital formats. Catalog records would employ library and information industry standards and include appropriate metadata.
Especially noteworthy is a provision authorizing GPO to acquire digital government information through automated and manual harvesting of public websites. The harvested information could then be cataloged, made accessible and preserved.
This provision recognizes a familiar problem for government information librarians: important federal information may be published electronically without becoming part of a traditional government-document distribution system and may later disappear from an agency website.
A National Collection of U.S. Government Public Information
H.R. 9342 would formally establish a National Collection of United States Government Public Information.
The legislation describes federal publications and information as national assets and states that the collection is intended to ensure free, equitable and convenient public access. The Superintendent of Documents would administer the collection and guarantee free permanent public access to it.
The bill would require GPO to operate a digital repository through which the public could obtain National Collection materials without charge. GPO would be responsible for digitization, authentication, preservation and permanent access and, where practicable, would provide information in an open format.
Importantly, the bill also contains a user privacy provision. GPO would be required to protect the privacy of people using the digital repository at a level at least equivalent to protections under the Privacy Act of 1974 and section 208 of the E Government Act of 2002.
There is also an accountability provision: the Superintendent would have to disclose online, at least annually, government information removed from public access in the National Collection or digital repository and explain the reasons for those removals.
From “printing” to “publishing”
The modernization effort extends to congressional oversight itself. H.R. 9342 would rename the Joint Committee on Printing as the Joint Committee on Publishing, while retaining its responsibility for overseeing GPO and supervising the GPO Director.
This change is more than semantic. Throughout the bill, references and statutory authorities built around “printing” are revised to recognize publishing more broadly. The legislation also updates rules governing congressional documents, reports, bills, resolutions and the Congressional Record. The Congressional Directory, for example, would be prepared in digital form and made available through a public GPO website.
Federal Register and GPO operations
The bill also revises the relationship between GPO and the Federal Register. It contemplates GPO publishing the Federal Register pursuant to an agreement with the Archivist while requiring at least two physical copies of each Federal Register issue to be stored in separate facilities for preservation and continuity-of-government purposes. It also authorizes alternative publication arrangements during continuity-of-operations emergencies.
Other operational provisions would modernize GPO procurement and administrative authorities. Among other things, the simplified acquisition threshold specified in the legislation would increase from $100,000 to $350,000. The bill also addresses GPO employee details, compensation, leave carryover and acceptance of gifts and bequests for governmental purposes.
Constitution Annotated becomes increasingly digital
Title IV addresses the Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, commonly known as Constitution Annotated or CONAN.
The legislation would phase out statutory requirements for certain hardbound editions and supplements and replace them with digital editions. Following the October 2031 Supreme Court term and every tenth October term thereafter, the Librarian of Congress would prepare a digital decennial revised edition. Digital cumulative supplements would also replace specified hardbound supplements.
This provision illustrates the broader philosophy underlying H.R. 9342: digital publication is no longer treated merely as an alternative means of distributing a printed government publication but increasingly as the principal form of the official information product.
Why Librarians and Researchers Should Care
For librarians, particularly law librarians, government-document librarians, archivists and other information professionals H.R. 9342 deserves close attention because it attempts to translate longstanding principles of public access to government information into the digital environment.
Three aspects are especially significant. First, the bill makes free and permanent public access a central statutory objective rather than treating digital dissemination principally as a technological convenience. Second, it recognizes that preservation must extend beyond traditional printed documents to government information appearing on websites and in other digital formats. Third, it preserves an important role for depository libraries while permitting digital only participation, regional cooperation and greater flexibility in managing tangible collections.
There are nevertheless issues worth watching as the legislation proceeds. Greater reliance on digital information raises questions about long-term technological preservation, authenticity, accessibility during outages, the digital divide, the continued availability of print for users who need it, and the resources GPO and depository libraries will require to carry out these responsibilities. Those questions do not necessarily argue against modernization; rather, they underscore why implementation could ultimately be as important as the statutory language itself.
Legislative status
Representative Bice introduced H.R. 9342 on June 18, 2026. On June 24, the House Administration Committee considered the measure in a full committee markup. The committee repository shows that an amendment in the nature of a substitute was considered, and available legislative tracking information reports that the bill was ordered to be reported, as amended, by voice vote.
That distinction is important: H.R. 9342 has not become law. The provisions discussed above therefore describe proposed changes, based primarily on the introduced text; subsequent versions and further congressional action should be checked before treating any of these provisions as final.
Selected Sources
The principal source is the official bill text:
Official GPO/GovInfo — H.R. 9342, GPO Modernization Act of 2026
Official full text of H.R. 9342 on GovInfo
For the committee proceedings:
House Administration Committee — June 24, 2026 markup
U.S. House Committee Repository — H.R. 9342 markup documents and amendments
Bluebook-style citation: GPO Modernization Act of 2026, H.R. 9342, 119th Cong. (2026).