2 U.S. Code § 658b
2 U.S. Code § 658b is about Duties of Congressional committees. It is under Part B (Federal Mandates) of Subchapter II (Fiscal Procedures) of Chapter 17A (Congressional Budget and Fiscal Operations) of Title 2 (The Congress) of the Code.
(a) In general
When a committee of authorization of the Senate or the House of Representatives reports a bill or joint resolution of public character that includes any Federal mandate, the report of the committee accompanying the bill or joint resolution shall contain the information required by subsections (c) and (d).
(b) Submission of bills to Director
When a committee of authorization of the Senate or the House of Representatives orders reported a bill or joint resolution of a public character, the committee shall promptly provide the bill or joint resolution to the Director of the Congressional Budget Office and shall identify to the Director any Federal mandates contained in the bill or resolution.
(c) Reports on Federal mandates
Each report described under subsection (a) shall contain—
(1)an identification and description of any Federal mandates in the bill or joint resolution, including the direct costs to State, local, and tribal governments, and to the private sector, required to comply with the Federal mandates;
(2) a qualitative, and if practicable, a quantitative assessment of costs and benefits anticipated from the Federal mandates (including the effects on health and safety and the protection of the natural environment); and
(3) a statement of the degree to which a Federal mandate affects both the public and private sectors and the extent to which Federal payment of public sector costs or the modification or termination of the Federal mandate as provided under section 658d(a)(2) of this title would affect the competitive balance between State, local, or tribal governments and the private sector including a description of the actions, if any, taken by the committee to avoid any adverse impact on the private sector or the competitive balance between the public sector and the private sector.
(d) Intergovernmental mandates
If any of the Federal mandates in the bill or joint resolution are Federal intergovernmental mandates, the report required under subsection (a) shall also contain—
(1)
(A) a statement of the amount, if any, of increase or decrease in authorization of appropriations under existing Federal financial assistance programs, or of authorization of appropriations for new Federal financial assistance, provided by the bill or joint resolution and usable for activities of State, local, or tribal governments subject to the Federal intergovernmental mandates;
(B) a statement of whether the committee intends that the Federal intergovernmental mandates be partly or entirely unfunded, and if so, the reasons for that intention; and
(C) if funded in whole or in part, a statement of whether and how the committee has created a mechanism to allocate the funding in a manner that is reasonably consistent with the expected direct costs among and between the respective levels of State, local, and tribal government;
(2) any existing sources of Federal assistance in addition to those identified in paragraph (1) that may assist State, local, and tribal governments in meeting the direct costs of the Federal intergovernmental mandates; and
(3) if the bill or joint resolution would make the reduction specified in section 658(5)(B)(i)(II) of this title, a statement of how the committee specifically intends the States to implement the reduction and to what extent the legislation provides additional flexibility, if any, to offset the reduction.
(e) Preemption clarification and information
When a committee of authorization of the Senate or the House of Representatives reports a bill or joint resolution of public character, the committee report accompanying the bill or joint resolution shall contain, if relevant to the bill or joint resolution, an explicit statement on the extent to which the bill or joint resolution is intended to preempt any State, local, or tribal law, and, if so, an explanation of the effect of such preemption.
(f) Publication of statement from Director
(1) In general
Upon receiving a statement from the Director under section 658c of this title, a committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall publish the statement in the committee report accompanying the bill or joint resolution to which the statement relates if the statement is available at the time the report is printed.
(2) Other publication of statement of Director
If the statement is not published in the report, or if the bill or joint resolution to which the statement relates is expected to be considered by the Senate or the House of Representatives before the report is published, the committee shall cause the statement, or a summary thereof, to be published in the Congressional Record in advance of floor consideration of the bill or joint resolution.
