[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3534 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3534

   To improve congressional deliberation on proposed Federal private 
                sector mandates, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 24, 1998

   Mr. Condit (for himself, Mr. Portman, Mr. Goode, Mr. Solomon, Mr. 
 Dreier, Mr. Bishop, Mr. Armey, Mr. Stenholm, Mr. Goss, Mr. McIntyre, 
 Mr. Linder, Mr. John, Ms. Pryce of Ohio, Mr. Cramer, Mr. McInnis, Mr. 
 Hastings of Washington, Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. 
 Sessions, Mr. Chabot, and Mr. Turner) 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Mandates Information Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Before acting on proposed private sector mandates, the 
        Congress should carefully consider the effects on consumers, 
        workers, and small businesses.
            (2) The Congress has often acted without adequate 
        information concerning the costs of private sector mandates, 
        instead focusing only on the benefits.
            (3) 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.
            (4) 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.
            (5) The costs of private sector mandates are often borne in 
        part by small businesses, in the form of hiring disincentives 
        and stunted growth.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are the following:
            (1) To improve the quality of the Congress' deliberation 
        with respect to proposed mandates on the private sector, by--
                    (A) providing the Congress with more complete 
                information about the effects of such mandates; and
                    (B) ensuring that the Congress acts on such 
                mandates only after focused deliberation on the 
                effects.
            (2) To enhance the ability of the Congress to distinguish 
        between private sector mandates that harm consumers, workers, 
        and small businesses, and mandates that help those groups.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL PRIVATE SECTOR MANDATES.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Estimates.--Section 424(b)(2) of the Congressional 
        Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 658c(b)(2)) is amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``and'' after 
                the semicolon; and
                    (B) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 
                subparagraph (C), and inserting after subparagraph (A) 
                the following:
                    ``(B) when applicable, the impact (including any 
                disproportionate impact in particular regions 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, worker 
                        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; and''.
            (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 ``If such determination 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)) is amended by--
                    (A) striking ``and'' after the semicolon at the end 
                of paragraph (1) and redesignating paragraph (2) as 
                paragraph (3); and
                    (B) inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(2) any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or 
        conference report that would increase the direct costs of 
        Federal private sector mandates by an amount that causes the 
        thresholds specified in section 424(b)(1) to be exceeded; 
        and''.
            (4) Application relating to appropriations committees.--(A) 
        Section 425(c)(1)(A) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 
        U.S.C. 658d(c)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ``except''.
            (B) Section 425(c)(1)(B) of the Congressional Budget Act of 
        1974 (2 U.S.C. 658d(c)(1)(B)) is amended--
                    (i) in clause (i) by striking 
                ``intergovernmental'';
                    (ii) in clause (ii) by striking 
                ``intergovernmental'';
                    (iii) in clause (iii) by striking 
                ``intergovernmental''; and
                    (iv) in clause (iv) by striking 
                ``intergovernmental''.
            (5) Threshold burden.--(A) Section 426(b)(2) of the 
        Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 658e(b)(2)) is 
        amended by inserting ``legislative'' before ``language''.
            (B) Section 426(b)(2) of the Congressional Budget Act of 
        1974 (2 U.S.C. 658e(b)(2)) is amended by striking ``section 425 
        or subsection (a) of this section'' and inserting ``part B''.
            (6) Question of consideration.--(A) Section 426(b)(3) of 
        the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 658e(b)(3)) is 
        amended by striking ``section 425 or subsection (a) of this 
        section'' and inserting ``part B''.
            (B) Section 426(b)(3) of the Congressional Budget Act of 
        1974 (2 U.S.C. 658e(b)(3)) is amended by inserting ``, except 
        that not more than one point of order shall be recognized by 
        the Chair under section 425(a)(1) or (a)(2)'' before the 
        period.
            (7) Application relating to congressional budget office.--
        Section 427 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 
        658f) is amended by striking ``intergovernmental''.
    (b) Rules of the House of Representatives.--Clause 5(c) of rule 
XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by 
striking ``intergovernmental'' and by striking ``section 424(a)(1)'' 
and inserting ``section 424 (a)(1) or (b)(1)''.
    (c) Exercise of Rulemaking Powers.--This section is enacted by 
Congress--
            (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the Senate 
        and the House of Representatives, respectively, and as such it 
        shall be considered as part of the rules of such House, 
        respectively, and shall supersede other rules only to the 
        extent that they are inconsistent therewith; and
            (2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of 
        either House to change such rules (so far as relating to such 
        House) at any time, in the same manner, and to the same extent 
        as in the case of any other rule of each House.
                                 <all>