{"id":15266,"date":"2017-01-13T10:14:42","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T15:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/?p=15266"},"modified":"2017-01-13T10:14:42","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T15:14:42","slug":"federal-paperwork-wastes-equivalent-of-13000-lifetimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2017\/01\/13\/federal-paperwork-wastes-equivalent-of-13000-lifetimes\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal Paperwork Wastes Equivalent of 13,000 Lifetimes\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Federal Paperwork Wastes Equivalent of 13,000 Lifetimes<\/h2>\n

We finally have an update on what the federal government thinks about its paperwork.<\/p>\n

Federal reports are chronically late.<\/p>\n

It had been two years since the White House Office of Management and Budget released its annual federal paperwork burden survey, the Information Collection Budget of the U.S. Government<\/em><\/a>, when the 2015 and 2016 editions finally appeared in December.<\/p>\n

In another recent example, the White House regulatory benefit\/cost report to Congress, which appeared the day before Christmas Eve 2016, was the latest ever by two months<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, it has been possible to track paperwork hours on an OMB database<\/a>, as well as with the RegRodeo<\/a> tool at American Action Forum.<\/p>\n

But how nice to see the official publication, and the commentary, at last!<\/p>\n

In its new 2016<\/a> Information Collection Budget of the U.S. Government<\/em> (encompassing fiscal year 2015 data), the Office of Management and Budget, estimates that 9.778 billion hours was required to complete the federal paperwork requirements (from 22 executive departments and six independent agencies that have been historically subject to survey, see p. 7<\/a>).<\/p>\n

9.7 billion hours of paperwork took up the equivalent of 13,953 full human lifetimes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The vast bulk of that, 7.357 billion hours, is attributable to the Treasury Department (lots of tax compliance).<\/p>\n

The overall total is up from 9.453 billion hours in FY 2013<\/a> (and up from\u00a08.783 billion in 2011<\/a>, and from 7.4 billion in 2000).<\/p>\n

Some compliance hours attributable to the Dodd-Frank law and its affiliated agency paperwork and certain other federal activities are not included in the primary Information Collection Budget <\/em>tally. Rather, they are exiled to an appendix on the last page of the ICB<\/em>, along with a few other agencies whose compliance-hours exceed a one-million-hours threshold.<\/p>\n

But at least OMB includes them, recognizing their significance. If we include these eight agencies, another 87 million hours get added to the tally (see p. 49<\/a>). Expect growth in these categories, and their playing a greater role in future editions of the ICB<\/em> unless regulatory liberalization occurs.<\/p>\n

Can You Imagine?<\/strong><\/p>\n

How does one visualize 9.778 billion hours? Few can, but there\u2019s this. An 80-year human lifespan is 29,200 days. That\u2019s 700,800 hours, as this animation shows<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That means the December 2016 OMB report\u2019s 9.778 billion hours of paperwork took up the equivalent of 13,953 full human lifetimes. That\u2019s up from the 13,488 in fiscal year 2013 depicted in the last edition<\/a> of this report.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t include here the hours posted in the appendix, and I guess I\u2019m being generous in saying everyone lives 80 years (it\u2019s 78.8 years<\/a>\u00a0on average), which would make paperwork \u201ccost\u201d more lives. And this is paperwork only, not other compliance costs, tasks, duties, restrictions, directives, and mandates. Presumably, those subject to paperwork would say the federal government underestimates it.<\/p>\n

Assuming $40 an hour, we\u2019re looking at over $391 billion in paper-shuffling costs\u00a0alone.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

How do you like to spend your finite 700,000 hours? Probably not on paperwork.<\/p>\n

The OMB does not provide\u00a0annual cost estimates for of all these hours, but did allow in a prior edition (2011) of the Information Collection Budget<\/em> that \u201cif each hour [then 8.783 billion] is valued at $20, the monetary equivalent would be $176 billion<\/a>.\u201d OMB does present the cost savings some agencies claim, in a \u201cBurden Reduction Initiatives\u201d section.<\/p>\n

The Progressive Policy Institute echoed the same $20 cost figure in When Paperwork Attacks! Five Ideas for Smarter Government<\/em><\/a>, noting that the figure would, at that time, position \u201cpaperwork\u201d at number five in the Fortune 500 based on \u201crevenues\u201d equivalence. A corresponding cost figure for the newer 2016 report would be $195 billion (9.778 billion hours times $20).<\/p>\n

With respect to OMB\u2019s dollar cost number, one must wonder when was the last time a lawyer or compliance officer was hired for $20 per hour.\u00a0An earlier installment of this roundup a couple of years back<\/a> noted the salaries of compliance officers in the banking field and referred to environmental compliance complexities and the high salaries in that field. If one assumes $40 an hour, we\u2019re looking at over $391 billion in paper-shuffling costs alone<\/em>, let alone compliance with and economic\/social impacts of the underlying rules and regulations generating the paper in the first place.<\/p>\n

Other hourly labor cost estimates give extra perspective. The National Federation of Independent Business conducts a survey of members<\/a> with respect to paperwork compliance costs, where numbers vary depending upon the type of requirement. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics notes the following mean hourly wages for basic categories one might regard as relevant in keeping up with complex federal paperwork. All exceed the $20 floated by OMB.<\/p>\n