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Input regarding H.R. 373, the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act of 2011 1 (October 31, 2011)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo10596 and id is 1 raw text is: CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director U.S. Congress Washington, DC 20515 October 31, 2011 Honorable James Lankford Chairman Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform Committee on Oversight and Government Reform U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter responds to your request for CBO's input regarding H.R. 373, the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act of 2011, as ordered reported by the Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform on September 21, 2011. Because that bill would directly affect CBO's work, I appreciate the opportunity that CBO had to express its concerns about the legislation prior to the subcommittee mark-up, and the continuing consultation since then between the committee staff and the CBO staff responsible for the agency's mandates work. The two main questions that have arisen concern the scope of the mandate costs that are to be encompassed by CBO's estimates and the definition of a federal mandate as it applies to federal grant programs and other voluntary federal programs. In sum: The impact of including a directive in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) for CBO to include indirect costs as a part of its analysis of mandate costs would depend on the meaning of that term. If the intent is for CBO's estimates to include costs, such as lost income, that would be incurred as a result of the mandate-regardless of whether those costs are borne by the mandated entity or passed on to other entities such as consumers or workers-CBO's mandate cost estimates already include those amounts. If the intent is for CBO to include an analysis of the distributional or macroeconomic effects of mandates, such estimates are not feasible as a routine part of analyzing reported legislation for mandates.

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