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Calendar No. 127
_______________________________________________________________________
116th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 116-50
_______________________________________________________________________
CREATING ADVANCED STREAMLINED
ELECTRONIC SERVICES FOR CONSTITUENTS ACT OF 2019
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
H.R. 1079
TO REQUIRE THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF
MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET TO ISSUE GUIDANCE ON
ELECTRONIC CONSENT FORMS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
June 25, 2019.--Ordered to be printed
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
89-010 WASHINGTON: 2019
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman
ROB PORTMAN, Ohio GARY C. PETERS, Michigan
RAND PAUL, Kentucky THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
MITT ROMNEY, Utah KAMALA D. HARRIS, California
RICK SCOTT, Florida KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
Gabrielle D'Adamo Singer, Staff Director
Joseph C. Folio, III, Chief Counsel
Helen M. Heiden, Senior Professional Staff Member
David M. Weinberg, Minority Staff Director
Zachary I. Schram, Minority Chief Counsel
Michelle M. Benecke, Minority Senior Counsel
Anne E. Nelson, Minority Fellow
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 127
116th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 116-50
======================================================================
CREATING ADVANCED STREAMLINED ELECTRONIC SERVICES FOR CONSTITUENTS ACT
OF 2019
_______
June 25, 2019.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Johnson, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 1079]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (H.R. 1079) to require
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to issue
guidance on electronic consent forms, and for other purposes,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................2
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................3
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................3
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................4
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Act, as Reported.............5
I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
The purpose of H.R. 1079, the Creating Advanced Streamlined
Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 2019, or the
``CASES Act'', is to allow constituents the option of
electronically authorizing their member of Congress to engage
with a Federal agency on their behalf. Currently, Federal law
prohibits a Federal agency from disclosing an individual's
record to another person or agency without written
authorization or consent from the individual.\1\ The
legislation would require OMB to create a uniform privacy
release form to be used across all agencies and to issue
guidance requiring all Federal agencies to accept electronic
consent forms.
\1\5 U.S.C. Sec. 552a (2012).
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II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION
One of the primary responsibilities of a member of Congress
is to provide assistance to constituents experiencing an issue
with a Federal agency. Constituent casework varies and
typically includes requests for information on government
activities or decisions, assistance tracking down missing
benefit payments, or relief from a Federal administrative
decision, among many others.\2\ When a constituent is unable to
resolve a personal issue with an agency on their own, members
and their staff often step in to serve as a liaison and help
the constituent navigate the bureaucracy.
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\2\Eric Petersen and Sarah J. Eckman, Cong. Research Serv.,
RL33209, Casework in a Congressional Office: Background, Rules, Laws,
and Resources (2017).
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The Privacy Act of 1974 can hinder the casework process by
prohibiting a Federal agency from sharing an individual's
personally identifiable information with another agency or
person, including a congressional office, without the
individual's written authorization.\3\ While most Federal
agencies accept any signed document from an individual granting
their member of Congress access to their records, some agencies
require their own forms to be submitted to initiate a casework
inquiry.\4\
\3\Id. at 7.
\4\Id.
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For the purpose of constituent casework, the Privacy Act
requires a constituent to print a privacy release form, sign
it, and mail, fax, email, or deliver it to their congressional
office. Although this process works, constituents often reach
out to their member of Congress during an emergency situation
or after a natural disaster, and returning a privacy release
form in this manner can become a burdensome task.\5\ H.R. 1079
would modernize and simplify this process by providing
constituents access to electronic consent forms.
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\5\165 Cong Rec. 26, H1502-04 (daily ed. Feb. 11, 2019).
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III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Representatives Garret Graves (R-LA) and Joseph P. Kennedy,
III (D-MA) introduced H.R. 1079, the Creating Advanced
Streamlined Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 2019,
on February 7, 2019. Companion legislation was introduced in
the Senate by Senators Thomas R. Carper (D-DE) and Rob Portman
(R-OH) on February 11, 2019. H.R. 1079 was referred to the
Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the House of
Representatives passed the bill on February 11, 2019. H.R. 1079
was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs.
The Committee considered H.R. 1079 at a business meeting on
May 15, 2019. The legislation was ordered reported favorably en
bloc by voice vote with Senators Johnson, Paul, Lankford,
Scott, Peters, Carper, Hassan, and Rosen present. For the
record only, Senators Portman, Romney, Hawley, and Sinema later
asked to be recorded as ``yes'' by unanimous consent.
IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE ACT, AS REPORTED
Section 1. Short title
This section gives the Act the short title of the
``Creating Advanced Streamlined Electronic Services for
Constituents Act of 2019'', or the ``CASES Act''.
Section 2. Sense of Congress
This section states that it is the sense of the Congress
that congressional offices provide important constituent
services by acting as a liaison between constiuents and
respective Federal agencies. This section further states that
the inquiry process should be modernized and simplified through
the creation of an electronic form that may be submitted in
place of the written authorization required under Section
552a(b) of Title 5.
Section 3. OMB guidance on electronic consent and access forms
This section establishes a requirement for uniform
documentation for constituent privacy releases and requires
agencies to accept the documentation.
Subsection (a) requires the Office of Management and Budget
to issue guidance within one year of the date of enactment
creating a uniform electronic consent form to authorize the
disclosure of an individual's records to another Federal agency
or person. The guidance requires the electronic consent form be
posted to each agency's website and requires each agency to
accept the electronic consent forms from any individual who has
been properly identity proofed and authenticated. The guidance
also requires each agency to accept electronic identity
proofing and authentication processes.
Subsection (b) requires each agency to comply with the
guidance no later than one year of the date of the guidance
being issued.
Subsection (c) defines ``agency,'' ``individual,''
``record,'' and ``Director.''
Section 4. No additional funds authorized
This section states that no additional funds are authorized
to carry out this bill.
Section 5. Determination of budgetary effects
This section states that for the purpose of complying with
the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act, the budgetary effects of this
legislation shall be determined by reference to the latest
statement titled ``Budgtary Effects of PAYGO legislation'' for
this Act, submitted by the Chairman of the House Budget
Committee prior to the vote on passage.
V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this Act and determined
that the Act will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the Act contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, June 19, 2019.
Hon. Ron Johnson,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1079, the CASES
Act.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Chinmayee
Balabhadrapatruni.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
H.R. 1079 would require the Office of Management and Budget
to create an electronic system to enable Members of Congress to
act on behalf of consenting individuals concerning matters with
any federal agency. Currently, most Congressional offices
performing constituent services with federal agencies utilize a
paper-based authorization process to conduct those services and
to comply with privacy protection laws.
CBO estimates that creating the electronic authorization
process envisioned in H.R. 1079 would be similar to the effort
that was required to develop another federal system known as
Login.gov. The cost of developing Login.gov--a system that
offers 14 million users secure access to 18 federal agencies
and more than 30 applications--was $30 million over a four year
period. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1079, which would
require a system with a single application and that would have
fewer users would cost around $15 million, or less than $1
million per major federal agency. Most of those costs would be
subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Enacting this legislation could affect direct spending by
some agencies because they are allowed to use receipts from the
sale of goods, fees, and other collections to cover operating
costs. As a result, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CBO
estimates that any net changes in direct spending by agencies
would be insignificant because most agencies can adjust amounts
collected to reflect changes in operating costs. Enacting the
legislation would not affect revenues.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Chinmayee
Balabhadrapatruni and Matthew Pickford. The estimate was
reviewed by Theresa Gullo, Assistant Director for Budget
Analysis.
VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE ACT, AS REPORTED
Because H.R. 1079 would not repeal or amend any provision
of current law, it would make no changes in existing law within
the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 12 of rule XXVI
of the Standing Rules of the Senate.