II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1592

To improve Federal decisionmaking by requiring a thorough evaluation of

the economic impact of Federal legislative and regulatory requirements

on State and local governments and the economic resources located

in such State and local governments.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 27 (legislative day, OCTOBER 13), 1993

Mr. DORGAN (for himself and Mr. DOMENICI) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To improve Federal decisionmaking by requiring a thorough

evaluation of the economic impact of Federal legislative

and regulatory requirements on State and local governments and the economic resources located in such 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 ‘‘Fiscal Accountability

5 and Intergovernmental Reform Act’’ (‘‘FAIR Act’’).
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds and declares the

3 following:

4 (1) Federal legislation and regulatory require5 ments impose burdens on State and local resources

6 to implement federally mandated programs without

7 fully evaluating the costs to State and local govern8 ments associated with compliance with those require9 ments and oftentimes without provision of adequate

10 Federal financial assistance. Such Federal legislative

11 and regulatory initiatives—

12 (A) force State and local governments to

13 utilize scarce public resources to comply with

14 Federal mandates;

15 (B) prevent these resources from being

16 available to meet local needs; and

17 (C) detract from the ability of State and

18 local governments to establish local priorities

19 for use of local public resources.

20 (2) Federal legislation and regulatory programs

21 can result in inefficient utilization of economic re22 sources, thereby reducing the pool of resources avail23 able—

24 (A) to enhance productivity, and increase

25 the quantity and quality of goods and services

26 produced by the American economy; and
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1 (B) to enhance international competitive2 ness.

3 (3) In implementing Congressional policy, Fed4 eral agencies should, consistent with the require5 ments of Federal law, seek to implement statutory

6 requirements, to the maximum extent feasible, in a

7 manner that minimizes—

8 (A) the inefficient allocation of economic

9 resources;

10 (B) the burden that such requirements im11 pose on use of local public resources by State

12 and local governments; and

13 (C) the adverse economic effects of such

14 regulations on productivity, economic growth,

15 full employment, creation of productive jobs,

16 and international competitiveness of American

17 goods and services.

18 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to—

19 (1) assist Congress in consideration of proposed

20 legislation establishing or revising Federal programs

21 so as to assure that, to the maximum extent prac22 ticable, legislation enacted by Congress will—

23 (A) minimize the burden of such legislation

24 on expenditure of scarce local public resources

25 by State and local governments;
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1 (B) minimize inefficient allocation of eco2 nomic resources; and

3 (C) reduce the adverse effect of such legis4 lation—

5 (i) on the ability of State and local

6 governmental entities to use local public

7 resources to meet local needs and to estab8 lish local priorities for local public re9 sources; and

10 (ii) on allocation of economic re11 sources, productivity, economic growth, full

12 employment, creation of productive jobs,

13 and international competitiveness; and

14 (2) require Federal agencies to exercise discre15 tionary authority and to implement statutory re16 quirements in a manner that, consistent with fulfill17 ment of each agency’s mission and with the require18 ments of other laws, minimizes the impact regula19 tions affecting the economy have on—

20 (A) the ability of State and local govern21 mental entities to use local public resources to

22 meet local needs; and

23 (B) the allocation of economic resources,

24 productivity, economic growth, full employment,
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1 creation of productive jobs, and international

2 competitiveness of American goods and services.

3 TITLE I—LEGISLATIVE REFORM

4 SEC. 101. REPORTS ON LEGISLATION.

5 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (2), when a committee of the Senate or House

8 of Representatives reports a bill or resolution of a

9 public character (not including a resolution of ratifi10 cation of a treaty) to its House that mandates un11 funded requirements upon State or local govern12 ments or the private sector, the report accompanying

13 the bill or resolution shall contain an analysis, pre14 pared after consultation with the Director of the

15 Congressional Budget Office, detailing the effect of

16 the new requirements on—

17 (A) State and local government expendi18 tures necessary to comply with Federal man19 dates;

20 (B) private businesses, including the eco21 nomic resources required annually to comply

22 with the legislation and implementing regula23 tions; and

24 (C) economic growth and competitiveness.
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1 (2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

2 apply to any bill with respect to which the Director

3 of the Congressional Budget Office certifies in writ4 ing to the chairman of the committee reporting the

5 legislation that the estimated costs to State and

6 local governments and the private sector of imple7 mentation of such legislation during the first 3 years

8 will not exceed $50,000,000 in the aggregate and

9 during the first 5 years will not exceed

10 $100,000,000 in the aggregate.

11 (b) DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF CONGRESSIONAL

12 BUDGET OFFICE.—The Director of the Congressional

13 Budget Office shall prepare for each bill or resolution of

14 a public character reported by any committee of the House

15 of Representatives or of the Senate, an economic analysis

16 of the effects of the bill or resolution, satisfying the re17 quirements of subsection (a). The analysis prepared by the

18 Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall be in19 cluded in the report accompanying such bill or resolution.

20 (c) LEGISLATION SUBJECT TO POINT OF ORDER.—

21 A bill or resolution is subject to a point of order against

22 consideration of the bill or resolution by the House of Rep23 resentatives or the Senate (as the case may be) if the bill

24 or resolution is reported for consideration by the House
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1 of Representatives or the Senate unaccompanied by the

2 analysis required by this section.

3 SEC. 102. EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.

4 The provisions of this title are enacted by the Con5 gress—

6 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of

7 the House of Representatives and the Senate, re8 spectively, and as such they shall be considered as

9 part of the rules of each House, respectively, and

10 such rules shall supersede other rules only to the ex11 tent that they are inconsistent therewith; and

12 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional

13 right of either House to change such rules (so far

14 as relating to such House) at any time, in the same

15 manner, and to the same extent as in the case of

16 any other rule of such House.

17 SEC. 103. EFFECTIVE DATE.

18 This title shall apply to any bill or resolution intro19 duced in the House of Representatives or the Senate after

20 the date of enactment of this Act.
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1 TITLE II—FEDERAL INTERGOV2 ERNMENTAL RELATIONS

3 SEC. 201. INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT

4 ASSESSMENT.

5 (a) REQUIREMENT.—When an agency publishes a

6 general notice of proposed rulemaking for any proposed

7 rule, the notice of proposed rulemaking shall be accom8 panied by an Intergovernmental and Economic Impact As9 sessment. Such Assessment shall be published in the Fed10 eral Register at the time of the publication of the general

11 notice of proposed rulemaking for the rule.

12 (b) CONTENT.—Each Intergovernmental and Eco13 nomic Impact Assessment required under this section shall

14 contain—

15 (1) a description of the reasons why action by

16 the agency is being considered;

17 (2) a succinct statement of the objective of, and

18 legal basis for, the proposed rule;

19 (3) a good-faith estimate, based on data readily

20 available to the agency, of the effect the proposed

21 rule will have on the expenditure of State or local

22 public resources by State and local governments; and

23 (4) a good-faith estimate, based on data readily

24 available to the agency, or a description of the effect

25 the proposed rule will have on—
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1 (A) the allocation of economic resources;

2 and

3 (B) productivity, economic growth, full em4 ployment, creation of productive jobs, and inter5 national competitiveness of American goods and

6 services.

7 SEC. 202. INTERGOVERNMENTAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT

8 STATEMENT.

9 (a) REQUIREMENT.—When an agency promulgates a

10 final rule, the agency shall prepare an Intergovernmental

11 and Economic Impact Statement. The Intergovernmental

12 and Economic Impact Statement shall contain—

13 (1) a succinct statement of the need for, and

14 the objectives of, such rule;

15 (2) a summary of the issues raised by the pub16 lic comments in response to the publication by the

17 agency of the Intergovernmental and Economic Im18 pact Assessment prepared for the rule, a summary

19 of the agency’s evaluation of such issues, and a

20 statement of any changes made in the proposed rule

21 as a result of such comments;

22 (3) a good-faith estimate, based on information

23 readily available to the agency, of the effect the rule

24 will have on the expenditure of State or local public

25 resources by State and local governments; and
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1 (4) a good-faith estimate, based on information

2 readily available to the agency, or a description of

3 the effect the rule will have on productivity, eco4 nomic growth, full employment, creation of produc5 tive jobs, and international competitiveness of Amer6 ican goods and services.

7 (b) AVAILABILITY.—The agency shall make copies of

8 each Intergovernmental and Economic Impact Statement

9 available to members of the public, and shall publish in

10 the Federal Register at the time of publication of any final

11 rule, a statement describing how the public may obtain

12 copies of such Statement.

13 SEC. 203. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.

14 The requirements of this title shall not alter in any

15 manner the substantive standards otherwise applicable to

16 the implementation by an agency of statutory require17 ments or to the exercise by an agency of authority dele18 gated by law.

19 SEC. 204. EFFECTIVE DATE.

20 This title shall apply to any rule proposed and any

21 final rule promulgated by any agency after the date of the

22 enactment of this Act.

23 SEC. 205. DEFINITION.

24 In this title, the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning stat25 ed in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code.
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