Federal Forms Management

The Government-wide Standard and Optional Forms Program is being severely hindered because a comprehensive and up-to-date facsimile handbook is not available for use in the agencies. The General Services Administration's (GSA's) Standard and Optional Forms Facsimile Handbook, which is used by agencies to identify forms currently in use for possible application within their agencies in lieu of developing new agency forms, has not been reissued in an updated form in more than 3 years.

Since the last issue of the Handbook the number of forms has increased from 482 to 672, an increase of 35 standard forms and 155 optional forms. The only way to obtain a facsimile of a new or revised form not included in the outdated handbook is to buy an entire bundle of the forms from the GSA supply system, which is an unnecessarily costly procedure. Past experience in forms growth would seem to indicate that agencies are developing and using forms when standard or optional forms already exist. This practice can result in considerable cost to the Government in terms of agencies' design, development, and printing of forms when suitable forms are available but not known to the agencies. Also, while the Forms Program is the responsibility of the National Archives and Records Service, the Federal Supply System in Region 3 is responsible for preparing and updating the Handbook. Elimination of this divided responsibility should help to improve management of the Program.