Right to Timely Government Service

PROPOSED / DRAFT — RIGHT TO TIMELY GOVERNMENT SERVICE

Government gives citizens deadlines; government should have deadlines too.

Agencies should publish reasonable processing standards for permits, licenses, benefits, records requests, appeals, reimbursements, applications, inspections, and other government services or decisions. Standards should identify what constitutes a complete submission and when the processing period begins.

When an agency fails to act within its published period, the affected person should receive notice, a reason for the delay, a revised decision date, and access to an escalation or supervisory-review process. Repeated failures should be measured and publicly reported.

Deadlines must allow reasonable exceptions for emergencies, fraud investigations, incomplete submissions, unusually complex matters, and circumstances outside the agency’s control, but exceptions should not become an excuse for indefinite delay.

If government requires you to meet a deadline, government should be accountable to one too.

Related policies: Changes in Government; Consumer Rights; Government Integrity & Equal Justice.

Status: Proposed / Draft — not yet formally adopted.

Originally published: August 24, 2026.

Last updated: August 24, 2026.

Version: Draft 0.1.