About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

Intergovernmental Mandates in Federal Legislation 1 (July 2009)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo8354 and id is 1 raw text is: A series of issue summaries from the Congressional Budget Office JULY 14, 2009 Intergovernmental Mandates 'in Federal Legislation Federal law sometimes requires state, local, or tribal gov- ernments to spend money to achieve certain goals. In some cases, a requirement is imposed as a condition for receiving federal aid; in others, requirements can be imposed through the exercise of the federal government' sovereign power. The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) focuses attention on requirements that are not conditions of aid. The law specifies which types of requirements should or should not be considered man- dates, establishes procedures that govern Congressional consideration of such mandates, and directs the Congres- sional Budget Office (CBO) to estimate the mandates' costs.1 (CBO estimates the costs of intergovernmental and private-sector mandates for virtually every bill reported from an authorizing committee. This brief focuses exclusively on intergovernmental issues.) UMRA's goal is to promote informed decisionmaking by the Con- gress as it considers questions about the appropriateness of federal mandates on other levels of government and about the desirability of providing financial assistance to cover the costs of intergovernmental mandates. UMRA took effect in 1996; since then the Congress has enacted few federal mandates, as defined in the law, that have imposed significant costs on state and local govern- ments. Although it has rarely used UMRA's explicit enforcement mechanism when considering bills, in some cases the Congress has changed legislation before enact- ment either to eliminate a mandate or to reduce its costs. There can be questions, however, about which bills are covered by UMRA and about how the law defines an intergovernmental mandate. UMRA's application is limited in three ways: 1. See Congressional Budget Office, ARve fC~ ciiisi 2008Undr th Unundd Madats ReormAct(2009), and other annual reports summarizing those estimates. It does not apply to the broad policy areas of national security or constitutional rights (including voting rights) or to some segments of the Social Security program. In most cases, it does not consider that new conditions related to federal grant programs are mandates. It focuses on mandates with costs above a threshold- originally set at $50 million; $69 million in 2009- that is adjusted annually for inflation. State and local officials could still view as burdensome some federal requirements that are not considered man- dates under UMRA or that do not impose costs above the UMRA threshold. Among such obligations are provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and the Indi- viduals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that must be met as a condition for receiving federal grants. The same applies to provisions of the Help America Vote Act that are designed to enforce the constitutional right of suffrage. Preemptions of state law and authority are man- dates under UMRA that rarely result in states' incurring additional costs. What Is an Intergovernmental Mandate? UMRA outlines several forms of intergovernmental mandates: *An enforceable duty. Any provision in legislation, statute, or regulation that would compel or explicitly prohibit action on the part of state, local, or tribal governments is a mandate unless the provision amounts to a duty that is imposed as a condition for receiving federal aid or that arises from participation in a voluntary federal program.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most