GOOD Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The GOOD Act creates a broad statutory definition of agency guidance covering generally applicable policy or interpretive statements that lack the force of a notice-and-comment rule, including memoranda, notices, bulletins, directives, releases, letters, blog posts, no-action letters, and speeches. Agencies must publish each new guidance document on the date it is issued and, within 180 days of enactment, publish every guidance document then in effect. The Office of Management and Budget Director must designate one central website within 90 days. Each agency must link prominently to its categorized guidance there. When guidance is rescinded, it remains available but must be marked with the rescission date and, when applicable, the court case number. Documents or information exempt from disclosure under FOIA section 552(b) are excluded.
Who Benefits and How
Regulated businesses, workers, advocates, and members of the public benefit from a searchable and more complete record of the nonbinding policies agencies currently apply or previously withdrew. Regulatory compliance attorneys and researchers benefit from same-day access to new guidance, a 180-day back catalog, visible rescission status, and court identifiers that reduce uncertainty about whether guidance remains operative.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal agency records, legal, and web staff must inventory guidance, publish new and existing documents, categorize them, maintain prominent links, and preserve rescinded items with required annotations. Office of Management and Budget website administrators must designate and support the central publication location within 90 days, while agency reviewers must screen documents for FOIA-exempt material before publication.
Key Provisions
- Requires agencies to publish new guidance on issuance and all guidance still in effect within 180 days.
- Requires OMB to designate a central guidance website within 90 days and agencies to provide prominent links to categorized materials.
- Requires rescinded guidance to remain online with rescission dates and any relevant court case number.
- Exempts documents and information protected from disclosure by FOIA section 552(b).
- Defines guidance broadly while excluding notice-and-comment rules that have the force and effect of law.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Require federal agencies to publish current and rescinded guidance documents in a central online location, subject to Freedom of Information Act exemptions.
Key Policy Areas
Government Operations, Regulatory Policy, Technology
Primary Purpose
Require federal agencies to publish current and rescinded guidance documents in a central online location, subject to Freedom of Information Act exemptions.
Policy Domains
GOOD Act
Identified Gains
- Regulated employers and workers
- Regulatory compliance attorneys and researchers
- Public-interest advocacy organizations
Identified Costs
- Federal agency records and web staff
- Office of Management and Budget website administrators
- Agency FOIA reviewers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedCommittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be …
Mr. Johnson (for himself, Mr. Cramer, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Lankford, …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security …
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
People protected by FOIA disclosure exemptions, People subject to federal agency guidance, Public-interest policy researchers
Federal agency guidance-publishing staff, Office of Management and Budget website administrators
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_director"
- → Director of the Office of Management and Budget
- "guidance_users"
- → People and organizations subject to or relying on agency guidance
- "publishing_entities"
- → Federal agencies
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A broadly construed, generally applicable agency policy or interpretation without the force of a notice-and-comment rule, including the listed communication formats.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology