I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3504

To provide Federal payments for Federal mandates imposed upon State

and local governments.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 10, 1993

Mr. TORKILDSEN (for himself, Mr. STUMP, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr.

CASTLE, Mr. EWING, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. BAKER of Louisiana, Mr. LIVINGSTON, Mr. ZELIFF, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. KIM, and Mr.

BLUTE) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the

Committees on Government Operations and Rules

A BILL

To provide Federal payments for Federal mandates imposed

upon State and local governments.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Mandates Re5 lief Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For the purposes of this Act—

8 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal

9 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘executive
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1 agency’’ in section 6501(3) of title 31, United States

2 Code.

3 (2) FEDERAL MANDATE.—The term ‘‘Federal

4 mandate’’ means a Federal requirement covered by

5 this Act.

6 (3) LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘local

7 government’’ means—

8 (A) a county, city, town, village, or other

9 general purpose political subdivision of a State;

10 (B) a school district; and

11 (C) a unit of local government established

12 under State law for a particular public purpose.

13 (4) MANDATE SCHEDULE.—The term ‘‘mandate

14 schedule’’ means a schedule prepared by a Federal

15 agency of the costs of complying with each Federal

16 mandate administered by the agency as required by

17 section 5.

18 SEC. 3. SUFFICIENT FEDERAL FUNDING REQUIREMENT.

19 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no State

20 or local government shall be obligated to take any action

21 required by Federal law, unless all expenses associated

22 with such obligation are fully funded by the Federal Gov23 ernment pursuant to the provisions of this Act.
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1 SEC. 4. PAY-OR-EXCUSE MECHANISM.

2 A State or local government shall be excused from

3 complying with a Federal mandate, unless—

4 (1) it receives an appropriation of Federal

5 funds to pay for the costs of complying with the

6 Federal mandate—

7 (A) in the amount specified in the perti8 nent mandate schedule described in section 5;

9 and

10 (B) in the amount of any additional costs

11 specified in section 6; and

12 (2) the pertinent mandate schedule (including

13 the annual update) has been published as required

14 by this Act.

15 SEC. 5. MANDATE SCHEDULES.

16 (a) AGENCY SCHEDULES.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency that

18 has authority to administer a Federal mandate shall

19 publish a schedule that lists the costs of complying

20 with each such mandate.

21 (2) CONTENT.—Each schedule shall include—

22 (A) the annual cost of complying with each

23 Federal mandate for which payments would be

24 made within one fiscal year; and

25 (B) the total cost of complying with each

26 Federal mandate that necessitates a State or
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1 local government to undertake a capital expend2 iture for which payments would be made over

3 more than 1 fiscal year.

4 (3) PUBLICATION.—Schedules shall be pub5 lished through notice and comment rulemaking, and

6 shall be updated annually. For each fiscal year,

7 schedules shall be published by March 1 of the cal8 endar year in which the fiscal year begins.

9 (b) STATUTORY MANDATE.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in order in

11 the House of Representatives or the Senate to con12 sider any bill, joint resolution, conference report, or

13 amendment that establishes a statutory mandate

14 schedule.

15 (2) POINT OF ORDER.—In the Senate, this sub16 section may be waived or suspended only by an af17 firmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of the

18 Senate, duly chosen and sworn.

19 SEC. 6. PAYMENTS OF ADDITIONAL COSTS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—If the costs to a State or local

21 government of complying with a Federal mandate exceed

22 the amounts appropriated to it according to the applicable

23 mandate schedule, the State or local government shall be

24 reimbursed for the amount of such additional costs. Such
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1 additional costs shall be well-documented and not the re2 sult of waste or mismanagement.

3 (b) PAYMENT.—A payment under this section shall

4 be made within 30 days of presentation of proof by a State

5 or local government of additional costs to the pertinent

6 administering agency.

7 SEC. 7. REFUND OF EXCESSIVE APPROPRIATIONS.

8 To the extent any payment received by a State or

9 local government pursuant to this Act exceeds the actual

10 cost of complying with a Federal mandate, the State or

11 local government shall refund the amount of excess to the

12 United States Treasury.

13 SEC. 8. CONGRESSIONAL ESTIMATES.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each bill or joint resolution con15 sidered on the floor of the House of Representatives or

16 the Senate shall be accompanied by a report that esti17 mates the costs to State and local governments that any

18 Federal mandate in such bill or joint resolution would im19 pose.

20 (b) ESTIMATES.—The estimates required by sub21 section (a) shall include—

22 (1) the costs imposed upon any 1 State or local

23 government, as may be appropriate, for each par24 ticular Federal mandate in the bill or joint resolu25 tion;
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1 (2) the total amount of costs imposed by each

2 particular Federal mandate; and

3 (3) the total amount of such costs imposed by

4 all Federal mandates within the entire bill or joint

5 resolution, for the fiscal year in which the bill or

6 joint resolution would take effect, and for each of

7 the next 4 fiscal years thereafter.

8 (c) POINT OF ORDER.—

9 (1) CONGRESSIONAL ESTIMATE.—It shall not

10 be in order in the House of Representatives or the

11 Senate to consider any bill or joint resolution that

12 does not comply with the requirements of subsection

13 (b).

14 (2) POINT OF ORDER.—In the Senate, this sub15 section may be waived or suspended only by an af16 firmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of the

17 Senate, duly chosen and sworn.

18 SEC. 9. APPLICATION OF ACT.

19 This Act shall apply to Federal mandates imposed by

20 Federal laws enacted or reauthorized by law after the date

21 of enactment of this Act.

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