U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

89–010 

" ! SENATE 116TH CONGRESS

1st Session 

REPORT

2019

116–50 

Calendar No. 127 

CREATING ADVANCED STREAMLINED 

ELECTRONIC SERVICES FOR CONSTITUENTS 

ACT OF 2019 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

H.R. 1079 

TO REQUIRE THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF 

MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET TO ISSUE GUIDANCE ON 

ELECTRONIC CONSENT FORMS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

JUNE 25, 2019.—Ordered to be printed 


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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

MITT ROMNEY, Utah 

RICK SCOTT, Florida 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire 

KAMALA D. HARRIS, California 

KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona 

JACKY ROSEN, Nevada 

GABRIELLE D’ADAMO SINGER, Staff Director 

JOSEPH C. FOLIO, III, Chief Counsel 

HELEN M. HEIDEN, Senior Professional Staff Member 

DAVID M. WEINBERG, Minority Staff Director 

ZACHARY I. SCHRAM, Minority Chief Counsel 

MICHELLE M. BENECKE, Minority Senior Counsel 

ANNE E. NELSON, Minority Fellow 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 


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Calendar No. 127 

116TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 116–50 

CREATING ADVANCED STREAMLINED ELECTRONIC 

SERVICES FOR CONSTITUENTS ACT OF 2019 

JUNE 25, 2019.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1079] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (H.R. 1079) to require the Director 

of the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance on electronic consent forms, and for other purposes, having considered the 

same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1 

II. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................... 2 

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 2 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 3 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 3 

VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 4 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Act, as Reported ........................... 5 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

The purpose of H.R. 1079, the Creating Advanced Streamlined 

Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 2019, or the ‘‘CASES 

Act’’, is to allow constituents the option of electronically authorizing 

their member of Congress to engage with a Federal agency on their 

behalf. Currently, Federal law prohibits a Federal agency from disclosing an individual’s record to another person or agency without 


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1 5 U.S.C. § 552a (2012). 

2 Eric Petersen and Sarah J. Eckman, Cong. Research Serv., RL33209, Casework in a Congressional Office: Background, Rules, Laws, and Resources (2017). 

3 Id. at 7. 4 Id. 

5 165 Cong Rec. 26, H1502–04 (daily ed. Feb. 11, 2019). 

written authorization or consent from the individual.1 The legislation would require OMB to create a uniform privacy release form 

to be used across all agencies and to issue guidance requiring all 

Federal agencies to accept electronic consent forms. 

II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

One of the primary responsibilities of a member of Congress is 

to provide assistance to constituents experiencing an issue with a 

Federal agency. Constituent casework varies and typically includes 

requests for information on government activities or decisions, assistance tracking down missing benefit payments, or relief from a 

Federal administrative decision, among many others.2 When a constituent is unable to resolve a personal issue with an agency on 

their own, members and their staff often step in to serve as a liaison and help the constituent navigate the bureaucracy. 

The Privacy Act of 1974 can hinder the casework process by prohibiting a Federal agency from sharing an individual’s personally 

identifiable information with another agency or person, including a 

congressional office, without the individual’s written authorization.3 While most Federal agencies accept any signed document 

from an individual granting their member of Congress access to 

their records, some agencies require their own forms to be submitted to initiate a casework inquiry.4

For the purpose of constituent casework, the Privacy Act requires 

a constituent to print a privacy release form, sign it, and mail, fax, 

email, or deliver it to their congressional office. Although this process works, constituents often reach out to their member of Congress during an emergency situation or after a natural disaster, 

and returning a privacy release form in this manner can become 

a burdensome task.5 H.R. 1079 would modernize and simplify this 

process by providing constituents access to electronic consent 

forms. 

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Representatives Garret Graves (R–LA) and Joseph P. Kennedy, 

III (D–MA) introduced H.R. 1079, the Creating Advanced Streamlined Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 2019, on February 

7, 2019. Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by 

Senators Thomas R. Carper (D–DE) and Rob Portman (R–OH) on 

February 11, 2019. H.R. 1079 was referred to the Committee on 

Oversight and Reform, and the House of Representatives passed 

the bill on February 11, 2019. H.R. 1079 was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. 

The Committee considered H.R. 1079 at a business meeting on 

May 15, 2019. The legislation was ordered reported favorably en 

bloc by voice vote with Senators Johnson, Paul, Lankford, Scott, 

Peters, Carper, Hassan, and Rosen present. For the record only, 

Senators Portman, Romney, Hawley, and Sinema later asked to be 

recorded as ‘‘yes’’ by unanimous consent. 


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IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE ACT, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title 

This section gives the Act the short title of the ‘‘Creating Advanced Streamlined Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 

2019’’, or the ‘‘CASES Act’’. 

Section 2. Sense of Congress 

This section states that it is the sense of the Congress that congressional offices provide important constituent services by acting 

as a liaison between constiuents and respective Federal agencies. 

This section further states that the inquiry process should be modernized and simplified through the creation of an electronic form 

that may be submitted in place of the written authorization required under Section 552a(b) of Title 5. 

Section 3. OMB guidance on electronic consent and access forms 

This section establishes a requirement for uniform documentation for constituent privacy releases and requires agencies to accept 

the documentation. 

Subsection (a) requires the Office of Management and Budget to 

issue guidance within one year of the date of enactment creating 

a uniform electronic consent form to authorize the disclosure of an 

individual’s records to another Federal agency or person. The guidance requires the electronic consent form be posted to each agency’s 

website and requires each agency to accept the electronic consent 

forms from any individual who has been properly identity proofed 

and authenticated. The guidance also requires each agency to accept electronic identity proofing and authentication processes. 

Subsection (b) requires each agency to comply with the guidance 

no later than one year of the date of the guidance being issued. 

Subsection (c) defines ‘‘agency,’’ ‘‘individual,’’ ‘‘record,’’ and ‘‘Director.’’ 

Section 4. No additional funds authorized 

This section states that no additional funds are authorized to 

carry out this bill. 

Section 5. Determination of budgetary effects 

This section states that for the purpose of complying with the 

Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act, the budgetary effects of this legislation shall be determined by reference to the latest statement titled 

‘‘Budgtary Effects of PAYGO legislation’’ for this Act, submitted by 

the Chairman of the House Budget Committee prior to the vote on 

passage. 

V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of 

the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this Act and determined that the Act will 

have no regulatory impact within the meaning of the rules. The 

Committee agrees with the Congressional Budget Office’s statement that the Act contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 


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(UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, June 19, 2019. 

Hon. RON JOHNSON, Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1079, the CASES Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Chinmayee 

Balabhadrapatruni. 

Sincerely, 

PHILLIP L. SWAGEL, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 1079 would require the Office of Management and Budget 

to create an electronic system to enable Members of Congress to act 

on behalf of consenting individuals concerning matters with any 

federal agency. Currently, most Congressional offices performing 

constituent services with federal agencies utilize a paper-based authorization process to conduct those services and to comply with 

privacy protection laws. 

CBO estimates that creating the electronic authorization process 

envisioned in H.R. 1079 would be similar to the effort that was required to develop another federal system known as Login.gov. The 

cost of developing Login.gov—a system that offers 14 million users 

secure access to 18 federal agencies and more than 30 applications—was $30 million over a four year period. CBO estimates that 

implementing H.R. 1079, which would require a system with a single application and that would have fewer users would cost around 

$15 million, or less than $1 million per major federal agency. Most 


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of those costs would be subject to the availability of appropriated 

funds. 

Enacting this legislation could affect direct spending by some 

agencies because they are allowed to use receipts from the sale of 

goods, fees, and other collections to cover operating costs. As a result, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CBO estimates that any net 

changes in direct spending by agencies would be insignificant because most agencies can adjust amounts collected to reflect changes 

in operating costs. Enacting the legislation would not affect revenues. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Chinmayee 

Balabhadrapatruni and Matthew Pickford. The estimate was reviewed by Theresa Gullo, Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE ACT, AS REPORTED

Because H.R. 1079 would not repeal or amend any provision of 

current law, it would make no changes in existing law within the 

meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 

Standing Rules of the Senate. 

Æ 


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