I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 54
To improve congressional deliberation on proposed Federal private sector
mandates, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 3, 2001
Mr. CONDIT (for himself and Mr. PORTMAN) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Rules
A BILL
To improve congressional deliberation on proposed Federal
private sector mandates, 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 ‘‘Mandates Information
Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) before acting on proposed private sector
mandates, Congress should carefully consider their
effects on consumers, workers, and small businesses;
(2) Congress has often acted without adequate
information concerning the costs of private sector
mandates, 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
the awareness of prospective mandates on the pri-
vate sector without adversely affecting the environ-
ment, 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
(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. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to improve the quality of Congress’ delibera-
tion with respect to proposed mandates on the pri-
vate sector, by—
(A) providing Congress 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 to distin-
guish between private sector mandates that harm
consumers, workers, and small businesses, and man-
dates that help those groups.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL PRIVATE SECTOR MANDATES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) ESTIMATES.—Section 424(b) of the Con-
gressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 658c(b)) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(4) ESTIMATE OF INDIRECT IMPACTS.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In preparing esti-
mates under paragraph (1), the Director shall
also estimate, if feasible, the impact (including
any disproportionate impact in particular re-
gions or industries) on consumers, workers, and
small businesses, of the Federal private sector
mandates in the bill or joint resolution,
including—
‘‘(i) an analysis of the effect of the
Federal private sector mandates in the bill
or joint resolution on consumer prices and
on the actual supply of goods and services
in consumer markets;
‘‘(ii) an analysis of the effect of the
Federal private sector mandates in the bill
or joint resolution on worker wages, work-
er benefits, and employment opportunities;
and
‘‘(iii) an analysis of the effect of the
Federal private sector mandates in the bill
or joint resolution on the hiring practices,
expansion, and profitability of businesses
with 100 or fewer employees.
‘‘(B) ESTIMATE NOT CONSIDERED IN DE-
TERMINATION.—The estimate prepared under
this paragraph shall not be considered in deter-
mining whether the direct costs of all Federal
private sector mandates in the bill or joint reso-
lution will exceed the threshold specified in
paragraph (1).’’.
(2) POINT
OF
ORDER.—Section 424(b)(3) of
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C.
658c(b)(3)) is amended by adding after the period
at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘If such de-
termination is made by the Director, a point of
order under this part shall lie only under section
425(a)(1) and as if the requirement of section
425(a)(1) had not been met.’’.
(3) THRESHOLD AMOUNTS.—Section 425(a) of
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C.
658d(a)(2)) is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon
at the end of paragraph (1) and redesignating
paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the
following new paragraph:
‘‘(2) any bill, joint resolution, amendment, mo-
tion, or conference report that would increase the di-
rect costs of Federal private sector mandates (ex-
cluding any direct costs that are attributable to rev-
enue resulting from tax or tariff provisions of any
such measure if it does not raise net tax and tariff
revenues over the 5-fiscal-year period beginning with
the first fiscal year such measure affects such reve-