'Plain writing' now the rule for federal government

[sabra]

Source: USA Today

Henceforth, forthwith and posthaste, the federal government will be required to use "plain writing" in public documents. Today, President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act of 2010 ( H.R. 946).

Agencies will have to train employees on writing plainly. The law appoints a "plain writing" official to oversee implementation of the measure.

What's the law's definition of plain writing? "Writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience."

The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, and Sens. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, and George Voinovich, R-Ohio.

"The Plain Writing Act requires a simple change to business-as- usual that'll make a big difference for anyone who's ever filled out a tax return or received a government document," Braley said when the bill cleared Congress. "Writing government documents in plain language will increase government accountability and will save Americans time and money. Plain, straightforward language makes it easy for taxpayers to understand what the federal government is doing and what services it is offering."

Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/10/federal-govt-must-now-use-plain-writing-/1

[Brickbat]

1. As a professional editor, I could have halved the size of the census handbooks we used.

[XemaSab]

10. You clearly didn't look at the handbooks I looked at

I could have reduced mine to a 30-page booklet. :D

[FSogol]

2. Next the need a "book-learn'n act" that would fully fund our schools.

:shrug:

[slackmaster]

3. They should strive to eliminate most uses of the verb "to be"

That would make it clearer.

"Writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and intended audience."

In this case the "is" permits the arbitrary application of labels like "clear", "concise", and "well-organized".

SPEAK E-PRIME, DAMMIT!

:nuke:

http://www.trans4mind.com/personal_development/GeneralSemantics/KensEPrime.htm

[No Elephants]

19. Briefer and fewer subordinate clauses may help, too.

I swear Kerry's seeming inablility to speak in simple sentences while campaigning was almost as damaging to him as Diebold.

[kirby]

4. Halfway there!

In order to make things comprehensible to the tea party morons, we need a 'Replacing Text with Pretty Pictures Act' that will convert everything to a childrens picture book format.

[elleng]

5. Oh good, a Plain Writing Czar!

We (Feds) had this in the past, something similar, took 'lessons,' but guess what, our 'editors' upstairs couldn't help but to return to the 'old' jargon!

[No Elephants]

17. I thought this had a "deja vu vibe." Thanks for confirming.

Henceforth, I will expend reasonable efforts to seek to repose faith in my initial intestinal sensations. ;)

[elleng]

22. Our first reactions are virtually ALWAYS right, dont'cha think???

[OnlinePoker]

6. Good idea...too bad there are no repercussions for inaction

From the bill under "Judicial Review and Enforceability": No provision of this Act shall be construed to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any administrative or judicial action.

Documents excluded include regulations, which means laws being passed will be as obscure as ever.

[Recursion]

7. This was part of "Reinventing Government" 17 years ago

Reading levels and SMOG scores for all public documents were supposed to gradually drop. I suspect this will go about as far as that did, sadly.

[RufusTFirefly]

8. H.R. 676 may not meet the standard exactly, but it's remarkably terse and clear

To wit:

SEC. 101. ELIGIBILITY AND REGISTRATION.

(a) In General- All individuals residing in the United States (including any territory of the United States) are covered under the USNHI Program entitling them to a universal, best quality standard of care. Each such individual shall receive a card with a unique number in the mail. An individual's social security number shall not be used for purposes of registration under this section.

(b) Registration- Individuals and families shall receive a United States National Health Insurance Card in the mail, after filling out a United States National Health Insurance application form at a health care provider. Such application form shall be no more than 2 pages long.

(c) Presumption- Individuals who present themselves for covered services from a participating provider shall be presumed to be eligible for benefits under this Act, but shall complete an application for benefits in order to receive a United States National Health Insurance Card and have payment made for such benefits.

Full text of HR 676 is here

[bhcodem]

9. A big thanks...

To my Congressman and friend, Bruce Braley!

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended for lowering the intimidation level.

Thanks for the thread, sabra.

[independent_voter]

12. a step in the right direction, tax documents give me a brain seizure

it just seems like the go out of their way to make it impossible to understand

[w4rma]

13. Impressive legislation. (nt)

[yurbud]

14. if it applied to court documents too, a lot of lawyers would be out of work.

[chidy]

16. lol. so true.

and anyway, who defines "plain" writing? cletus the slack jawed yokel? seriously, this is more of the same old "let's pass something that sounds good but doesn't have any meaning or force" that i've come to expect from these democrats. a campaign ad bill, and nothing meaningful or that will change anything. i'm sure my IRS form this year will be as annoying and long as it always has been.

[surrealAmerican]

21. I agree.

This sounds too vague to make much difference. They would need a very specific definition of "plain writing" to be able to use as a guide.

Welcome to DU.

[Psephos]

15. Two thumbs up. n/t

[No Elephants]

18. Wouldn't it be cheaper and easier and more effective to hire "Plain English" editors for the

written stuff?

[Exilednight]

20. No point in teaching kids if your new plan is to dumb down American even further. n/t

[Javaman]

23. It will still be at a reading level the tea ball licking baggers will find hard to understand. nt

[Ignis]

24. Great! Please make the US tax code your first project.

:D