PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 12, 2025
Well-Informed, Scientific, & Efficient Government Act of 2025 or the WISE Government Act
This bill prohibits an agency from entering into a contract for a journal subscription that prohibits disclosure of the cost of the subscription to another agency or the Library of Congress.
Each agency library must make policies and procedures for employee access to library subscriptions easily and clearly available to the agency's employees, including regional employees, through the intranet.
The General Services Administration must submit to Congress and each agency library a report on increasing agency library access to serials.
People & committees
Rep. Foster, Bill [D-IL-11] · D–IL
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: May 2, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-12 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed WISE Government Act would prevent federal agencies from signing journal subscription contracts that bar sharing subscription prices with other agencies or the Library of Congress. Agency libraries would have to make subscription access instructions easy for employees, including regional staff, to find on internal networks. The bill would also require a report on subscription costs, access problems, and possible improvements.
This Act may be cited as the Well-Informed, Scientific, & Efficient Government Act of 2025 or the WISE Government Act.
The head of an agency may not enter into any contract for a journal subscription that prohibits disclosure of the cost of the subscription to another agency or the Library of Congress.
the head of each agency shall require that each library of the agency make easily and clearly available to the employees of the agency, including regional employees, through the intranet any policy or procedure for employee access to a subscription of the library.
shall submit to Congress and each agency library a report on increasing agency library access to serials
Agency heads would be prohibited from entering journal subscription contracts that forbid sharing subscription costs with another agency or the Library of Congress. This provision would restrict contract terms; it would not itself require public release of prices.
The head of an agency may not enter into any contract for a journal subscription that prohibits disclosure of the cost of the subscription to another agency or the Library of Congress.
Within six months after enactment, each agency head would have to require agency libraries to make subscription access policies and procedures easily and clearly available through the agency's internal network. This requirement expressly includes regional employees.
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency shall require that each library of the agency make easily and clearly available to the employees of the agency, including regional employees, through the intranet any policy or procedure for employee access to a subscription of the library.
Within 12 months after enactment, the Administrator of General Services would have to send Congress and each agency library a report on increasing access to serials—publications issued in successive installments, such as journals. The Administrator would have to consult the Library of Congress, applicable agency libraries, and other relevant stakeholders, including the four information organizations named in the bill.
Not later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the Library of Congress, the applicable agency libraries, and other relevant stakeholders (including the Defense Technical Information Center, the National Library of Medicine, the Education Resources Information Center, and the National Technical Information Service) shall submit to Congress and each agency library a report on increasing agency library access to serials
The term Administrator means the Administrator of General Services.
The report would have to survey subscriptions purchased and their costs for applicable agency libraries and the Library of Congress. It would also have to outline access problems. Possible topics include contracts, publishing formats, employee access at headquarters and regional offices, purchasing inefficiencies, and prices.
(1) a survey of subscriptions purchased and cost data for applicable agency libraries and the Library of Congress;
(2) an outline of any issues with agency access to scientific serials and subscriptions, which may include contract issues, concerns arising with new publishing media (including print, online, and aggregated services), the ability of agency employees to use agency library subscriptions in headquarters and regional offices, purchasing system inefficiencies, and price concerns;
The report would have to recommend short-term and long-term solutions and assess whether agencies need greater transparency between agencies and new purchasing models. This is a requirement to recommend and assess changes, rather than a direction to adopt a particular purchasing model.
(3) recommendations on addressing issues, including short-term and long-term solutions and assessing the potential need for greater interagency transparency and new purchasing models.
The bill would use the definition of agency in an existing federal statute. For the report, applicable agency libraries would include libraries of the executive and military departments listed in the cited statutes and any agency with a scientific focus, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The term agency has the meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
The term applicable agency library means the libraries of— (A) the Executive departments listed in section 101 of title 5, United States Code; (B) the military departments listed in section 102 of title 5, United States Code; and (C) any agency with a scientific focus, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The bill would preserve Freedom of Information Act disclosure exemptions: its requirements could not be interpreted to require disclosure of information otherwise exempt under the cited provision.
Nothing in this section may be construed as requiring the disclosure of matters that are otherwise not subject to disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act).
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated May 2, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on February 12, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2025-05-02T14:43:45Z. 2025-02-12: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. 2025-02-12: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-12. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; accompanying disclosures and other materials were not supplied.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential treatment, special exemption, or carve-out was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: May 2, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI