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Federal Mandates: Identification Process Is Complex and Federal Agency Roles Vary

GAO-05-401T Published: Mar 08, 2005. Publicly Released: Mar 08, 2005.
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Highlights

The Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) was enacted to address concerns expressed by state and local governments about federal statutes and regulations that require nonfederal parties to expend resources to achieve legislative goals without being provided funding to cover the costs. Over the past 10 years, Congress has at various times considered legislation that would amend various aspects of UMRA. This testimony is based on GAO's report, Unfunded Mandates: Analysis of Reform Act Coverage (GAO-04-637, May 12, 2004). Specifically, this testimony addresses (1) the process used to identify federal mandates and what are federal agencies' roles, (2) statutes and rules that contained federal mandates under UMRA, and (3) statutes and rules that were not considered mandates under UMRA but may be perceived to be "unfunded mandates" by certain affected parties.

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Cost analysisFederal lawFederal legislationFederal regulationsIntergovernmental relationsPrivate sectorRegulatory agenciesStatutory lawFederal mandatesUnfunded mandates