II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1606

To provide Federal assistance to States and local governments required to

comply with direct cost Federal mandates.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 1 (legislative day, OCTOBER 13), 1993

Mr. SASSER (for himself and Mr. MATHEWS) introduced the following bill;

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

A BILL

To provide Federal assistance to States and local governments required to comply with direct cost Federal mandates.

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 Mandate

5 Funding Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For the purposes of this Act—

8 (1)(A) The term ‘‘Federal mandate’’ means a

9 Federal law or regulation that requires a State or

10 unit of general local government to carry out an ac-
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1 tion for which the State or unit of general local gov2 ernment incurs a direct program cost.

3 (B) Such term does not include laws or regula4 tions—

5 (i) enforcing the Constitutional or statu6 tory rights of individuals; or

7 (ii) requiring a State or unit of general

8 local government to contribute matching

9 amounts of funding as a condition for receiving

10 Federal grant assistance.

11 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

12 of the Treasury.

13 (3) The term ‘‘State’’ has the same meaning as

14 in section 6501(8) of title 31, United States Code.

15 (4) The term ‘‘unit of general local govern16 ment’’ has the same meaning as in section 6501(9)

17 of title 31, United States Code.

18 SEC. 3. MORATORIUM.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the period beginning on the

20 date of enactment of this Act and ending 2 years after

21 such date, any duty or requirement imposed by Federal

22 statute or regulation that creates a Federal mandate shall

23 not apply to a State or unit of general local government

24 unless the State or unit of general local government re25 ceives a Federal share toward the cost of such mandate.
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1 (b) APPLICATION.—This section shall apply only to

2 statutes or regulations that take effect on or after the date

3 of the enactment of this Act.

4 SEC. 4. FEDERAL MANDATE ASSISTANCE FUND.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF

6 FUND.—There is established in the Department of the

7 Treasury a Federal Mandate Assistance Fund (referred

8 to as the ‘‘Fund’’), which shall consist of amounts appro9 priated to the Fund.

10 (b) PAYMENT AND USE.—

11 (1) PAYMENT.—The Secretary shall pay from

12 the Fund, to each State which qualifies for a pay13 ment under this section, an amount equal to the

14 sum of any amounts allocated to the State under

15 this section at the beginning of each fiscal year.

16 (2) USE.—Amounts paid to a State under this

17 section, and allocated and paid to units of general

18 local government within such State under this sec19 tion, shall be used by such State and units of gen20 eral local government to reimburse the costs of Fed21 eral mandates.

22 (c) QUALIFICATION FOR PAYMENT.—Under regula23 tions issued by the Secretary, a State shall qualify for pay24 ment of the amount allocable to it under subsection (d)
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1 only after it has furnished, to the Secretary’s satisfaction,

2 the following:

3 (1) STATE AND LOCAL MANDATE COSTS.—The

4 State shall furnish, and the Secretary shall certify,

5 an estimate of the combined cost to the State and

6 to units of general local government within such

7 State of Federal mandates during the next fiscal

8 year.

9 (2) FORMULA FOR ALLOCATION TO UNITS OF

10 GENERAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The State shall

11 submit, and the Secretary shall approve, a plan for

12 the allocation to units of general local government in

13 the State, out of the amount allocated to the State

14 under this section, in conformance with the condi15 tions and criteria set forth in subsection (d).

16 (d) ALLOCATION FORMULAS.—

17 (1) STATE ALLOCATIONS.—(A) Under regula18 tions issued by the Secretary, the Secretary shall al19 locate to each State, out of the amount authorized

20 for the period under subsection (b), an amount pro21 portionate to the product of—

22 (i) the total estimated cost of Federal

23 mandates to the State, and units of general

24 local government in the State, as a ratio of the
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1 total estimate of such costs for all States, mul2 tiplied by

3 (ii) the need factor of the State as a ratio

4 of the combined need factor of all States.

5 (B) The need factor shall be the product of—

6 (i) the population of the State;

7 (ii) the relative per capita income of

8 the State;

9 (iii) the general tax effort factor of

10 the State; and

11 (iv) the relative fiscal gap factor of

12 the State.

13 (2) ALLOCATIONS TO UNITS OF GENERAL

14 LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—

15 (A) SET-ASIDE OF FUNDS.—Each State

16 shall set aside, out of the amount paid to it by

17 the Secretary under this section, an amount

18 equal to the ratio which the federal mandate

19 costs of all units of general local government in

20 the State bear to the combined Federal man21 date costs of both the State and its units of

22 general local government.

23 (B) PAYMENT OF FUNDS.—Under the plan

24 submitted by the State for approval by the Sec25 retary, pursuant to subsection (c)(2), the State
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1 shall pay to each unit of general local govern2 ment in the State, from the amount set aside

3 under subparagraph (A), an amount propor4 tionate to the product of—

5 (i) the cost of Federal mandates to

6 such unit of general local government, as a

7 ratio of the cost of such mandates to all

8 units of general government in the State;

9 and

10 (ii) the local need factor of such unit

11 of general local government, defined as the

12 product of its population, relative per cap13 ita income, and general tax effort factor.

14 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

15 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec16 essary to carry out the purposes of this section.

17 SEC. 5. REQUIREMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION PROVISION;

18 POINT OF ORDER.

19 Section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974

20 is amended by inserting at the end thereof the following

21 new subsection:

22 ‘‘(d) POINT OF ORDER.—

23 ‘‘(1) GENERAL RULE.—(A) Except as provided

24 by paragraph (2), it shall not be in order in the Sen25 ate to consider any bill or resolution which would
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1 impose any duty or requirement on State or local

2 governments which in the judgment of the Director

3 of the Congressional Budget Office is likely to result

4 in an annual cost to State and local governments of

5 $200,000,000 or more with respect to any particular

6 program, project, or activity, unless such bill or res7 olution contains an implementation provision setting

8 forth the Federal share of such cost.

9 ‘‘(B)(i) The Federal share of costs referred to

10 in subparagraph (A) shall be not less than 20 per11 cent of the costs incurred by the State or local gov12 ernment in meeting direct program costs.

13 ‘‘(ii) The Federal share of costs referred to in

14 subparagraph (A) may include—

15 ‘‘(I) reimbursement for direct administra16 tive costs of State and local governments in im17 plementing the program, project, or activity;

18 and

19 ‘‘(II) Federal cost-sharing or matching

20 grant funding.

21 ‘‘(C) A point of order made under this sub22 section may be waived in the Senate by a majority

23 vote of the Members voting, a quorum being present,

24 or by the unanimous consent of the Senate.
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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not

2 apply to any bill or resolution, including any amend3 ment thereto or conference report thereon, which is

4 in compliance with any order issued under either

5 section 251(b)(2)(D) or section 252(e) of the Bal6 anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of

7 1985.

8 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub9 section—

10 ‘‘(A) The term ‘local government’ has the

11 same meaning as in section 6501(6) of title 31,

12 United States Code.

13 ‘‘(B)(i) The term ‘Federal mandate’ means

14 a Federal law or regulation that requires a

15 State or local government to carry out an ac16 tion for which the State or local government in17 curs a direct program cost.

18 ‘‘(ii) Such term does not include laws or

19 regulations—

20 ‘‘(I) enforcing the Constitutional or

21 statutory rights of individuals; or

22 ‘‘(II) requiring a State or local gov23 ernment to contribute matching amounts

24 of funding as a condition for receiving

25 Federal grant assistance.’’.
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1 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 The provisions of this Act shall take effect on the

3 date of enactment of this Act.

Æ