Supporters of the Open Document Foundation's XML format have gained another backer in the form of Oregon State Rep. Peter Buckley, who has proposed a bill that would require state government agencies to make open standards software available for public records use.

The proposed legislation chips away at Microsoft's Office software, which has been the de facto standard for most government documents. The Massachusetts state government broke the iron grip of Microsoft Office in the United States in January when it embraced the ODF standard, while California, Minnesota, and Texas legislative bodies are also considering legislation that would endorse the ODF format.

The ODF has gained the endorsement of the International Organization for Standardization for its format, and Microsoft has petitioned the ISO for approval of its Open XML version that's used with Microsoft Office software.