[House Report 104-469]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
104th Congress Rept. 104-469
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session Part 4
_______________________________________________________________________
IMMIGRATION IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST ACT OF 1995; TEMPORARY
AGRICULTURAL WORKER AMENDMENTS OF 1996
_______
March 21, 1996.--Ordered to be printed
_______________________________________________________________________
Mr. Roberts, from the Committee on Agriculture, submitted the following
S U P P L E M E N T A L R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 2202]
This supplemental report contains the Congressional Budget
Office cost estimate on H.R. 2202, as amended by the Committee
on Agriculture, that adds a new subtitle B to title VIII, the
Temporary Agricultural Worker Amendments of 1996, and relevant
conforming amendment thereto.
The Congressional Budget Office cost estimate was not
available to be included in the report submitted by the
Committee on Agriculture on March 8, 1996 (H. Rept. 104-469,
Part 3), recommending passage of the bill, as amended, by the
House.
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, March 18, 1996.
Hon. Pat Roberts,
Chairman, Committee on Agriculture,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman. The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed intergovernmental mandates cost estimate
for the amendment of the Committee on Agriculture to H.R. 2202,
the Temporary Agricultural Worker Amendments of 1996.
This bill would impose intergovernmental mandates, as
defined in Public Law 104-4, but would impose no private sector
mandates.
The bill would affect revenues and direct spending of the
federal government, and estimates of those effects have
previously been provided to the committee.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them.
Sincerely,
June E. O'Neill, Director.
Congressional Budget Office Estimated Cost of Intergovernmental
Mandates
1. Bill number: Amendment of the Committee on Agriculture
to H.R. 2202
2. Bill title: Temporary Agricultural Worker Amendments of
1996
3. Bill status: As ordered reported by the House Committee
on Agriculture on March 8, 1996.
4. Bill purpose: The Temporary Agricultural Worker
Amendments of 1996 would create a temporary agricultural worker
classification designated H-2B (in reference to its subsection
designation in title 8) and establish requirements for
employers who wish to hire aliens under that provision.
5. Intergovernmental mandates contained in bill: The
amendments would require state employment security agencies
(SESAs) to review affidavits filed by the prospective
employers, maintain files of those documents for a limited
period of time, and provide employers with proof of filing.
6. Estimated direct costs to State, local, and tribal
governments: (a) Is the $50 Million Threshold Exceeded? No. (b)
Total Direct Costs of Mandates: CBO estimates that these
mandates would impose minimal direct cost on state, local, and
tribal governments. (c) Estimate of Necessary Budget Authority:
Not applicable.
7. Basis of estimate: This estimate is based on information
provided by state employment security officials in the states
likely to be significantly affected by this legislation. CBO
anticipates that between 25,000 and 100,000 workers would
participate in the H-2B program each year.
We expect that most affidavits filed by employers would
cover more than one alien employee and that the average cost of
processing and filing each affidavit would be between $15 and
$20. We therefore estimate that the direct costs of
implementing these requirements would total less than $500,000
annually. Furthermore, because SESAs currently review and file
similar documents under other alien worker classification
provisions, existing procedures could be used to fulfill the
requirements of this amendment, thereby minimizing additional
costs.
Finally, the costs of SESAs are financed with federal funds
through the Department of Labor. Therefore, we expect that any
additional responsibilities would ultimately be funded by the
federal government.
8. Appropriation or other federal financial assistance
provided in bill to cover mandate costs: None.
9. Other impacts on State, local, and tribal governments:
None.
10. Previous CBO estimate: None.
11. Estimate prepared by: Leo Lex.
12. Estimate approved by:
Robert A. Sunshine
(For Paul N. Van deWater,
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis).
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, March 21, 1996.
Hon. Pat Roberts,
Chairman, Committee on Agriculture,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman. The Congressional Budget Office has
reviewed H.R. 2202, the Immigration in the National Interest
Act of 1995, as reported by the House Committee on Agriculture
on March 8, 1996. The Agriculture Committee added to title VIII
of the bill a subtitle B, which would establish a new
nonimmigrant category for temporary agricultural workers. This
new program, called the H-2B program, would be authorized
through 1999 and would be limited to no more than 250,000
workers in the first year and smaller numbers in subsequent
years.
Attached is a table summarizing the estimated spending and
revenue effects of the Agriculture Committee's version of H.R.
2202. The Agriculture Committee's amendment would affect the
federal budget in three ways: (1) The government would receive
additional revenues totaling about $94 million over the 1997-
2000 period because employers of H-2B aliens would have to pay
an amount equivalent to the federal tax that employers are
obligated to pay under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA)
and the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA). These
payments would total 8.45 percent of taxable earnings.
(2) The government would spend about $67 million on
administrative expenses to operate the H-2B program and on
emergency medical services provided to H-2B aliens.
(3) The government would lose about $117 million in
revenues over the 1997-2000 period because the H-2B aliens
would displace illegal aliens whose wages would be subject to
FUTA and FICA taxes. About $90 million of the loss applies to
Social Security taxes that are recorded as off-budget receipts.
In aggregate, therefore, CBO estimates that creating the
new nonimmigrant category would result in a loss of revenue of
$23 million and an increase in direct spending of $67 million
over the 1996-2000 period.
CBO prepared an intergovernmental mandate statement for
this legislation on March 18, 1996. The bill would impose no
private sector mandates as defined in Public Law 104-4.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contacts are Mark
Grabowicz, and, for revenues, Peter Ricov.
Sincerely,
June E. O'Neill, Director.
ESTIMATED FEDERAL BUDGETARY IMPACT OF H.R. 2202, AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
[By fiscal year, in millions of dollars]
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1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
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SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATIONS ACTION
Authorizations:
Estimated Authorizations Level. 129 699 774 856 960 978 996
Estimated Outlays.............. 0 532 637 940 994 956 976
MANDATORY SPENDING AND RECEIPTS
Revenues:
New Criminal Fines and
Forfeiture.................... 0 (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\)
Temporary Agricultural Workers
(Off-Budget).................. 0 -10 -22 -48 -10 0 0
Temporary Agricultural Workers
(On-Budget)................... 0 9 16 33 9 0 0
Earned Income Tax Credit....... 0 14 13 12 13 13 13
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Change in Revenues......... 0 13 7 -3 12 13 13
(Off-Budget)........... 0 -10 -22 -48 -10 0 0
(On-Budget)............ 0 23 29 45 22 13 13
Direct Spending:
New Criminal Fines and
Forfeiture.................... 0 (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\)
Immigration Enforcement Account 0 (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\) (\1\)
Supplemental Security Income... 0 -10 -80 -160 -260 -370 -670
Food Stamps.................... 0 0 -15 -45 -100 -170 -250
Family Support................. 0 -1 -13 -23 -48 -63 -78
Medicaid....................... 0 -5 -110 -240 -390 -570 -830
Federal Employee Retirement.... 0 2 4 2 0 0 0
Temporary Agricultural Workers. 0 10 19 36 2 0 0
Earned Income Tax Credit....... 0 -216 -214 -218 -222 -224 -229
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Change in Direct Spending
Outlays................... 0 -220 -409 -648 -1,018 -1,397 -2,057
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\1\ Less than $500,000.