RD73 - January 2013 Federal Mandate Report


Executive Summary:
The Federal Mandate Report is published semiannually by the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (OIA). This report provides reviews of federal legislation containing unfunded mandates that have become public law (Part I), or passed at least one chamber of Congress (Part II). The OIA relies on the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) interpretations of the Federal Unfunded Mandate Reform Act (UMRA) to determine what legislation contains intergovernmental mandates. Descriptions of the mandates provided in this analysis are based upon or excerpted from these CBO documents and Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports.

The semiannual report also provides reviews of federal regulatory action completed that may impact the Commonwealth (Part III). The OIA relies on recommendations of the Regulatory Information Service Center (RISC) of the General Services Administration (GSA) to determine which federal regulatory actions may affect the states. Due to delays at RISC, the required information was not provided in time for submission of the January - July 2012 report previously submitted by the OIA. The RISC information was received in December 2012. Therefore, Part III of this report includes reviews of federal regulatory action completed from January 1, 2012 to December 31st 2012.

This edition of the Federal Mandate Report is intended to provide an overview of the legislative requirements imposed upon the Commonwealth for the period of July 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. Of the bills reviewed by the CBO, four have become public law, while three have passed at least one chamber of Congress. As noted above, this edition provides information on regulatory requirements for the period of January - December 2012.