I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6964 
To amend the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 to ensure that 
actions taken by regulatory agencies are subject to that Act, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 
Ms. FOXX (for herself and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 
and in addition to the Committees on Rules, the Budget, and the Judici-
ary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 
case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
to ensure that actions taken by regulatory agencies are 
subject to that Act, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unfunded Mandates 
Information and Transparency Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(1) before acting on proposed Federal man-
dates, Congress should carefully consider their ef-
fects on consumers, workers, and small businesses; 
(2) Congress has often acted without adequate 
information concerning the costs of Federal man-
dates, instead focusing only on their benefits; 
(3) the implementation of the Unfunded Man-
dates Reform Act of 1995 has resulted in increased 
awareness of intergovernmental mandates without 
impacting existing environmental, public health, or 
safety laws or regulations; 
(4) the implementation of this Act will enhance 
public awareness of prospective Federal mandates on 
the private sector, State, local, and tribal govern-
ments without adversely affecting the environment, 
public health, or safety laws or regulations; 
(5) the costs of private sector mandates are 
often borne in part by consumers, in the form of 
higher prices and reduced availability of goods and 
services; 
(6) the costs of private sector mandates are 
often borne in part by workers, in the form of lower 
wages, reduced benefits, and fewer job opportunities; 
and 
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(7) the costs of private sector mandates are 
often borne in part by small businesses, in the form 
of hiring disincentives and stunted economic growth. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is— 
(1) to improve the quality of Congress’ delibera-
tion with respect to proposed mandates on the pri-
vate sector, by— 
(A) providing Congress and the public with 
more complete information about the effects of 
such mandates; and 
(B) ensuring that Congress acts on such 
mandates only after focused deliberation on 
their effects; and 
(2) to enhance the ability of Congress and the 
public to distinguish between Federal mandates that 
harm consumers, workers, small businesses, State, 
local, and tribal governments and mandates that 
help those groups. 
SEC. 4. APPLICATION OF REPORTING REQUIREMENTS TO 
POLICIES INVOLVING CHANGES IN CONDI-
TIONS OF GRANT AID. 
Section 423(c) of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para-
graph (2), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’ 
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at the end of paragraph (3), and by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) an assessment of the authorized level of 
funding to determine if the prospective costs of car-
rying out changes to a condition of Federal assist-
ance being imposed on participating State, local, or 
tribal governments, and how these costs compare 
with the funds being authorized or, for reauthoriza-
tions, of the additional costs of changes in those con-
ditions and how they compare with the changes in 
funding being authorized; and in cases where a bill 
or joint resolution provides such sums as are nec-
essary, the assessment shall contain an estimate of 
that amount.’’. 
SEC. 5. EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF LEGISLATIVE REPORT-
ING REQUIREMENTS TO INCLUDE INDIRECT 
COSTS. 
(a) INDIRECT COSTS.—Section 423(c) of the Con-
gressional Budget Act of 1974 (as amended by section 4) 
is further amended— 
(1) in its side heading, by inserting ‘‘and Other 
Costs’’ after ‘‘Mandates’’ ; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 
(3), by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’ at 
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the end of paragraph (4), and by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) an identification and description of any 
reasonably foreseeable indirect costs to State, local, 
or tribal governments, or by the private sector, in-
curred as a result of implementing the Federal man-
date in the bill or joint resolution.’’. 
(b) DEFINITION.—Section 421 of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 is amended by redesignating para-
graphs (10) through (13) as paragraphs (11) through 
(14), respectively and by adding after paragraph (9) the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(10) REASONABLY
FORESEEABLE
INDIRECT 
COSTS.—The term ‘reasonably foreseeable indirect 
costs’ means costs to the affected entities resulting 
from implementation of a Federal mandate other 
than their own direct costs to carry out any such 
mandate. Such costs include lost income and sec-
ondary monetary costs resulting from the Federal 
mandate.’’. 
SEC. 6. EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF REGULATORY REPORT-
ING REQUIREMENTS TO INCLUDE INDIRECT 
COSTS. 
Section 202(a) of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act of 1995 is amended by striking ‘‘the expenditure by’’ 
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and inserting ‘‘direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect 
costs to’’. 
SEC. 7. APPLICATION OF REPORTING REQUIREMENTS TO 
INCLUDE REGULATIONS IMPOSED BY INDE-
PENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES. 
Paragraph (1) of section 421 of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 is amended by striking ‘‘, but does 
not include independent regulatory agencies’’. 
SEC. 8. CLARIFICATION TO ENSURE REGULATORY AGENCY 
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS APPLIES TO ALL 
RESPECTIVE REGULATORY ACTIONS. 
Section 201 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
of 1995 is amended by inserting ‘‘expressly’’ after ‘‘other-
wise’’. 
SEC. 9. CLOSE LEGAL LOOPHOLE ALLOWING FOR DIS-
REGARDING OF REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 
BY REGULATORY AGENCIES. 
Section 202(a) of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act of 1995 is amended by— 
(1) striking ‘‘Unless’’ and all that follows 
through ‘‘private sector,’’ the first place it appears 
and inserting the following: ‘‘Unless otherwise ex-
pressly prohibited by law, before promulgating any 
general notice of proposed rulemaking or final rule 
that includes a Federal mandate that may result in 
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