Despite opposition, printing policy change on the way

Federal agencies will be able to buy printing services on their own rather than through the Government Printing Office beginning this fall, under a Bush administration plan that is moving ahead despite opposition on Capitol Hill. Administration officials are preparing to eliminate a rule in the Federal Acquisition Regulation that requires agencies to use GPO as their printing middle-man. David Drabkin, deputy associate administrator for acquisition policy at the General Services Administration, said the change is wending its way through the government's regulatory approval process. Under a May 3 directive from Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels, agencies that are not subject to the acquisition regulation-the Federal Aviation Administration and the CIA, for example-can start buying printing services on their own beginning Sept. 1. Daniels said last month that he expects the regulatory change to be finalized this fall, clearing the way for other agencies to go their own way on printing. The Bush administration's action is setting up a clash with lawmakers, who contend that the requirement to go through GPO is set in law. The Senate-approved version of the 2003 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill orders the administration to abide by the law. Daniels, however, contends that Congress does not have the authority to mandate the GPO as a printing source. In his May 3 directive, Daniels cited a 1996 Justice Department opinion that said the printing requirement was unconstitutional. The printing office is also fighting the Bush administration's efforts. Public Printer Michael DiMario said last month that agencies won't be able to find better prices than those available through GPO. Eliminating the GPO requirement will raise the government's printing costs by hundreds of millions of dollars, DiMario said. Daniels argued that eliminating the requirement would save the government up to $70 million per year. Daniels said several unhappy customers across the federal government have contacted OMB to complain about GPO's services. GPO officials say customers are by and large happy with the printing office. One customer with a complaint about GPO is OMB itself. In February, the president's 2003 budget was initially printed with several pages that were missing minus signs, forcing GPO to publish errata to accompany the massive budget books. OMB officials say the error was the fault of GPO and its contractor, while GPO says the mistake was made by OMB. Fred Antoun, a Chambersburg, Pa.-based attorney who specializes in government printing matters, has offered to review materials from the budget to settle the dispute between GPO and OMB. "We've offered to get to the bottom of this," Antoun said. His offer has not yet been accepted.