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This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) paper summarizes the provisions of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and reviews CBO's activities under title I of that law during its first five years (1996-2000). The paper reviews the extent to which legislation before the Congress during that period would have imposed federal mandates on other levels of government or the private sector. Besides tracking five-year trends in federal mandates, it also presents information for 2000, updating CBO's four previous annual reports on the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

The paper was written by Theresa Gullo, Chief of CBO's State and Local Government Cost Estimates Unit, under the supervision of Robert Sunshine, and by Patrice Gordon, coordinator of private-sector mandates for CBO's Microeconomic and Financial Studies Division, under the supervision of Roger Hitchner.

Christian Spoor edited the paper, and Christine Bogusz proofread it. Rae Wiseman prepared the paper for publication, and Lenny Skutnik produced the printed copies. Annette Kalicki prepared the electronic versions for CBO's Web site.

Dan L. Crippen
Director
May 2001
 
 

SUMMARY

ONE - THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE UNFUNDED MANDATES REFORM ACT

• What is the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act?
• When did UMRA become law?
• Why was UMRA enacted?
• What information did CBO provide before UMRA was enacted?

• Requirements and Responsibilities
• What are the basic requirements of UMRA?
• What are CBO's responsibilities under UMRA?
• What thresholds does UMRA set for CBO to provide estimates of mandate costs?
• What are the responsibilities of Congressional committees under UMRA?
• How are the provisions of title I enforced?
• Has CBO ever prepared a mandate statement for an appropriation bill?

• Definitions
• How does UMRA define "mandate"?
• What is the special definition for "mandates" in large entitlement grant programs?
• Are preemptions of state and local government authority considered mandates under UMRA?
• Are taxes considered mandates?
• How does UMRA define "direct costs"?
• What kinds of costs are not included in that definition?
• How does UMRA define "state, local, and tribal governments"?
• Who is the "private sector"?
• Is any legislation excluded from consideration under UMRA?
• How broadly or narrowly does CBO apply the exclusions?

• Proposals to Change UMRA
• Has UMRA ever been amended?
• What other proposals have there been to change UMRA?

TWO - CBO'S ACTIVITIES UNDER UMRA, 1996-2000

• How many bills has CBO reviewed for mandates since UMRA was enacted?
• How many of those bills contained mandates and how many had costs exceeding the thresholds?
• How many separate mandates considered by the Congress in the past five years had costs over the thresholds?
• How often was CBO unable to estimate whether the thresholds would be exceeded?
• How many mandates with costs above the thresholds have become law?
• How many significant mandates were amended before enactment to bring their costs below the thresholds?
• What about bills with "other" costs that are not the result of intergovernmental mandates?

APPENDIXES

A - AN ASSESSMENT OF UMRA IN 2000

B - PRIMARY CONTRIBUTORS TO CBO'S ANALYSES OF MANDATES
 

TABLES
S-1.	Total Number of CBO Mandate Statements for Bills, Proposed Amendments, and Conference Reports, 1996-2000
1.	Number of CBO Mandate Statements for Bills, Proposed Amendments, and Conference Reports, by Year, 1996-2000
2.	Status of Intergovernmental Mandates That Exceed the Statutory Thresholds, 1996-2000
3.	Status of Private-Sector Mandates That Exceed the Statutory Thresholds, 1996-2000
A-1.	Number of CBO Mandate Statements for Bills, Proposed Amendments, and Conference Reports in 2000
A-2.	Bills Reviewed by the Congressional Budget Office in 2000 That Contained Intergovernmental Mandates
A-3.	Bills Reviewed by the Congressional Budget Office in 2000 That Contained Private-Sector Mandates
A-4.	Laws Enacted in 2000 That Contained Intergovernmental Mandates

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