About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

S. 1109, Truth in Settlements Act of 2015 1 (March 24, 2016)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo2825 and id is 1 raw text is: 


                   CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE

a                             COST ESTIMATE
                                                                  March 24, 2016



                                    S. 1109
                      Truth in Settlements Act of 2015

      As reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
                                on March 1, 2016


S. 1109 would establish new requirements for the public disclosure of settlement
agreements entered into by federal agencies. Specifically, the legislation would require
that nonconfidential settlements be posted online if they involve payments from
nonfederal entities that are greater than $1 million and are related to a violation of civil or
criminal laws. Each settlement posted online would have to include the names of the
parties involved, a description of the claims settled, the amount to be paid, and whether
the settlement is a criminal penalty, a civil penalty, or a fine. In addition, S. 1109 would
require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to complete a report on the
confidentiality of settlement agreements.

CBO estimates that enacting S. 1109 would have no significant effect on the federal
budget because most of the information required is already collected during the
settlement process and the cost of making it available online would not be significant.
CBO also estimates that the cost for GAO to prepare the required study would be less
than $500,000. Because enacting S. 1109 could affect direct spending by agencies not
funded through annual appropriations, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CBO estimates
that any net changes in spending by those agencies would be negligible. Enacting the
legislation would not affect revenues.

CBO estimates that enacting S. 1109 would not increase direct spending or on-budget
deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.

S. 1109 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal
governments.

On May 20, 2015, CBO transmitted an estimate for S. 1109, as ordered reported by the
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on May 6, 2015. The
two versions of the legislation are similar, and CBO's estimates of the budgetary effects
are the same. The previous version of the legislation also contained a private-sector
mandate that is not included in this version of the act.

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. The estimate was approved
by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

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.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most