Washington, D.C. – Yesterday Speaker Paul Ryan introduced the OPEN Government Data Act (OPEN) as a Title within his new Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (FEBP) (HR 4174).

Speaker Ryan’s new bill incorporates recommendations from the September report of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking.

Cosponsors of the FEBP Act include Speaker Paul Ryan (WI-1-R), Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (SC-4-R), Reps. Derek Kilmer (WA-6-D) and Blake Farenthold (TX-27-R), and Senators Patty Murray (WA-D) and Brian Schatz (HI-D).

“By including OPEN as part of this legislation, Speaker Ryan has recognized the connection between transforming government information into machine-readable and open data and using that data to inform policy,” said Hudson Hollister, Executive Director of the Data Coalition. “Speaker Ryan’s proposed legislation highlights that this Congress is truly committed to modernizing public-sector information, which leads to transparency outside and efficiency inside.”

Today the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee unanimously approved the FEBP Act. The package bill is set to receive a vote on the House floor in the coming weeks.

About the Data Coalition: The Data Coalition is the world’s first, and only, open data trade association. We advocate on behalf of the private sector and the public interest for the publication of government information as standardized, open data. Open data enhances accountability, improves government management, reduces compliance costs, and stimulates innovation. Our members represent a cross-section of the technology industry and implementers, employ over two hundred thousand Americans, and have a combined market capitalization exceeding $1.5 trillion. For more information, visit datacoalition.org.

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