Plain Writing Act of 2010

Plain Writing Act of 2010

Long title	An act to enhance citizen access to Government information and services by establishing that Government documents issued to the public must be written clearly, and for other purposes.
Enacted by	the 111th United States Congress
Effective	October 13, 2010
Citations
Public law	111-274
Statutes at Large	124 Stat. 2861
Codification
U.S.C. sections amended	5 USC 301 note
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 946 by Representative Bruce L. Braley on 10 February 2009[1] Passed the House on 17 March 2010[2]  Passed the Senate on 27 September 2010[2]  Agreed to by the House on 29 September 2010[2]  and by the Senate on 29 September 2010[2]  Signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 13, 2010[2]

Signed into law on October 13, 2010, the Plain Writing Act of 2010 (H.R. 946; Pub.L. 111–274) is a United States federal law that requires that federal executive agencies:

• Use plain writing in every covered document that the agency issues or substantially revises^[3]
• Train employees in "plain writing"
• Establish a process for overseeing the agency's compliance with this Act
• Create and maintain a plain writing section on the agency's website to inform the public of agency compliance with the requirements of this Act
• Provide a mechanism for the agency to receive and respond to public input on agency implementation and agency reports required under this Act, and be accessible from its homepage
• Designate one or more agency points-of-contact to receive and respond to public input on the implementation of this Act

Example

Before:

“The amount of expenses reimbursed to a claimant under this subpart shall be reduced by any amount that the claimant receives from a collateral source. In cases in which a claimant receives reimbursement under this subpart for expenses that also will or may be reimbursed from another source, the claimant shall subrogate the United States to the claim for payment from the collateral source up to the amount for which the claimant was reimbursed under this subpart.”

After:

“If you get a payment from a collateral source, we will reduce our payment by the amount you get. If you get payments from us and from a collateral source for the same expenses, you must pay us back the amount we paid you.”^[4]

See also

• Paperwork Reduction Act

References

1. HR 946 Summary & Status
2. Legislative History (scroll to bottom)
3. Pub.L. 111–274§4(b)
4. "New law bans use of confusing words and sentences in government documents." (blog). The Hot Word. dictionary.com. May 27, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011. External link in |publisher=, |work= (help)

External links

• PlainLanguage.gov
• 2013 Report Card by the independent Center for Plain Language, for each federal department