Legislation that would require copies of congressionally mandated reports to be published online by GPO cleared a major hurdle when it unanimously passed the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at a business meeting on Wednesday. The “Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act,” introduced by Rep. Mike Quigley and joined by 12 co-sponsors, will now advance to the floor of the House of Representatives.

The ACRMA will, for the first time ever, gather together all reports to Congress from federal agencies in one place online. It requires that the reports be published online by GPO in bulk, in open formats, and in a timely fashion, so that people can easily learn about the work of the federal government. It also makes it possible to determine when agencies have failed to submit reports to congress in a timely fashion as required by law.

Rep. Quigley has championed the transparency measure since he introduced it in May. Chairman Issa praised the legislation during the hearing, saying that “this is the kind of legislation we should work on.” Ranking member Cummings agreed that this bill is a commonsense measure that everyone should support. Hopefully, this bipartisan support will lead to quick action by the House of Representatives.