IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3308 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2014 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require a Federal agency to include language in certain 

educational and advertising materials indicating that 

such materials are produced and disseminated at taxpayer expense. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taxpayer Trans3 parency Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR PRINTED MATERIALS AND AD5 VERTISEMENTS BY FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

6 (a) REQUIREMENT TO IDENTIFY FUNDING SOURCE

7 FOR COMMUNICATION FUNDED BY FEDERAL AGENCY.— 

8 Each communication funded by a Federal agency that is 

9 an advertisement, or that provides information about any 

10 Federal Government program, benefit, or service, shall 

11 clearly state— 

12 (1) in the case of a printed communication, in13 cluding mass mailings, signs, and billboards, that 

14 the communication is printed or published at tax15 payer expense; and 

16 (2) in the case of a communication transmitted 

17 through radio, television, the Internet, or any means 

18 other than the means referred to in paragraph (1), 

19 that the communication is produced or disseminated 

20 at taxpayer expense. 

21 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (1) PRINTED COMMUNICATION.—Any printed 

23 communication described in subsection (a)(1) shall— 

24 (A) be of sufficient type size to be clearly 

25 readable by the recipient of the communication; 

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1 (B) to the extent feasible, be contained in 

2 a printed box set apart from the other contents 

3 of the communication; and 

4 (C) to the extent feasible, be printed with 

5 a reasonable degree of color contrast between 

6 the background and the printed statement. 

7 (2) RADIO, TELEVISION, AND INTERNET COM8 MUNICATION.— 

9 (A) AUDIO COMMUNICATION.—Any audio 

10 communication described in subsection (a)(2) 

11 shall include an audio statement that commu12 nicates the information required under that 

13 subsection in a clearly spoken manner. 

14 (B) VIDEO COMMUNICATION.—Any video 

15 communication described in subsection (a)(2) 

16 shall include a statement with the information 

17 referred to under that subsection— 

18 (i) that is conveyed in a clearly spo19 ken manner; 

20 (ii) that is conveyed by a voice-over or 

21 screen view of the person making the state22 ment; and 

23 (iii) to the extent feasible, that also 

24 appears in writing at the end of the com25 munication in a clearly readable manner 

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1 with a reasonable degree of color contrast 

2 between the background and the printed 

3 statement, for a period of at least 4 sec4 onds. 

5 (C) E-MAIL COMMUNICATION.—Any e-mail 

6 communication described in subsection (a)(2) 

7 shall include the information required under 

8 that subsection, displayed in a manner that— 

9 (i) is of sufficient type size to be 

10 clearly readable by the recipient of the 

11 communication; 

12 (ii) is set apart from the other con13 tents of the communication; and 

14 (iii) includes a reasonable degree of 

15 color contrast between the background and 

16 the printed statement. 

17 (c) IDENTIFICATION OF OTHER FUNDING SOURCE

18 FOR CERTAIN COMMUNICATIONS.—In the case of a com19 munication funded entirely by user fees, by any other 

20 source that does not include Federal funds, or by a com21 bination of such fees or other source, a Federal agency 

22 may apply the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) by 

23 substituting ‘‘by the United States Government’’ for ‘‘at 

24 taxpayer expense’’. 

25 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

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1 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

2 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Executive 

3 agency’’ in section 133 of title 41, United States 

4 Code. 

5 (2) MASS MAILING.—The term ‘‘mass mailing’’ 

6 means any mailing or distribution of 499 or more 

7 newsletters, pamphlets, or other printed matter with 

8 substantially identical content, whether such matter 

9 is deposited singly or in bulk, or at the same time 

10 or different times, except that such term does not 

11 include any mailing— 

12 (A) in direct response to a communication 

13 from a person to whom the matter is mailed; or 

14 (B) of a news release to the communica15 tions media. 

16 (e) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—The funds used by a Fed17 eral agency to carry out this Act shall be derived from 

18 amounts made available to the agency for advertising, or 

19 for providing information about any Federal Government 

20 program, benefit, or service. 

21 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply only 

22 to communications printed or otherwise produced after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act. 

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1 SEC. 3. GUIDANCE FOR IMPLEMENTATION. 

2 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Director of the Office of Manage4 ment and Budget shall develop and issue guidance on im5 plementing the requirements of this Act. 

6 SEC. 4. JUDICIAL REVIEW AND ENFORCEABILITY. 

7 (a) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—There shall be no judicial re8 view of compliance or noncompliance with any provision 

9 of this Act. 

10 (b) ENFORCEABILITY.—No provision of this Act shall 

11 be construed to create any right or benefit, substantive 

12 or procedural, enforceable by any administrative or judi13 cial action. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 26, 

2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 

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