White House OIRA publishes comments on broadening public participation in the regulatory process

[alexande...@gmail.com]

Hi all --

My apologies for any duplication in your inbox.

In November 2022, the White House hosted a virtual public engagement session as part of the co-creation process for a new United States National Action Plan for Open Government for the Open Government Partnership.

Unfortunately, the White House’s co-creation process was flawed and opaque, ignoring civil society priorities and undermining the Open Government Partnership, resulting in a 5th U.S. National Action Plan that mostly re-packaged existing policies and programs instead of transformative new commitments based on the open government priorities of the U.S. good government advocates and organizations.

In the 4 months since publication of the plan, in the absence of a restored White House Open Government Initiative and presidential leadership, there has been no widespread renewal of open government as a principle or practice across the U.S.A.

That said, we see bright spots.

One of them is at the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which has continued its efforts to broaden public engagement in the federal regulatory process in 2023, holding another listening session on March 7th and soliciting public comments on draft guidance.

Unlike the General Services Adminisgration, White House Offices of Science and Technology Policy, Management and Budget, and National Security Council – which have still not disclosed any of the public comments they received during the open government co-creation process at open.usa.gov – OIRA has now published a .ZIP file of the public comments it received online, with permission of the people and organizations who submitted them.

The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs just published many public comments it received on broadening public participation in the regulatory process:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/information-regulatory-affairs/broadening-public-engagement-in-the-federal-regulatory-process/

As the Digital Democracy Project offered comments and submitted a response during the March forum, we have published an edited and linked up version online – with the preface about the broader context of open government in the executive branch of the US government in 2023 that you just read, above. https://governing.digital/2023/04/25/public-comment-how-to-improve-public-participation-in-the-rulemaking-process/