Connected Government Act Referred Out of Committee

The Connected Government Act has been unanimously approved by the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, according to a House Energy & Commerce Commmittee staffer.

The bill, spearheaded by Energy & Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Rep. Robin Kelly (D-N.Y.), requires that all new federal government agency websites be designed for ease of mobile viewing.

That in turn is meant to send a signal to state governments to do the same.

Related: House E&C Revamps Website

"Mobile friendly websites will ultimately help build a stronger democracy," Pallone and Kelly said in a blog post.

Citing the recent spate of hurricanes, floods and fires, they said: “In the wake of these recent disasters, we need to ensure that anyone looking for assistance from a federal agency can get the information they need through their mobile device.”

A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.