10 Years of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: ten years after its adoption, most agree that the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act has raised awareness about the burden unfunded mandates place on state and local governments.

• Author: Berger, Barrie Tabin
• Position: Federal Focus

In 1995, after two years of one of the most effective and aggressive joint lobbying efforts by organizations representing state and local governments, (1) Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, commonly known as UMRA (Public Law # 104-4). In his speech before signing the legislation into law, then-President Clinton said "this bill is another acknowledgement that Washington doesn't necessarily have all the answers, that we have to continue to push decision making down to the local level, and we shouldn't make the work of governing at the local level any harder than the circumstances of the time already ensure it will be." To achieve this intended effect, President Clinton explained that the UMRA "for the first time limits the ability of Congress to pass laws which impose unfunded mandates on state, county, local governments and tribal governments."

Congressional leaders who were instrumental in the passage of the legislation included former Sens. Dirk Kempthorne (R-Idaho) and John Glenn (D-Ohio), and former Reps. Bill Clinger (R-Pennsylvania), Gary Condit (D-California), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio). Rep. Tom Davis (R-Virginia), who is currently chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, was also instrumental in the legislation's passage, and continues to play an essential role in the area of unfunded mandate reform.

The UMRA requires the Congressional Budget Office to calculate the projected costs of any proposed federal legislative mandate. If those costs exceed $50 million, Congress must appropriate money, raise taxes, or create an entitlement; otherwise, a member of Congress can object to the mandate. However, regardless of the CBO estimate, members of Congress can, by a separate majority vote of the House or the Senate, maneuver around these roadblocks to enact legislation containing an unfunded mandate. In addition, the UMRA does not apply to mandates created pursuant to certain kinds of legislation, including legislation addressing certain broad policy areas, such as national security, constitutional rights, and Social Security; legislation requiring new conditions associated with federal grant programs; and legislation creating costly preemptions for state and local governments.

A SECOND LOOK

March 22 marked the 10th anniversary of the signing of the UMRA. Lawmakers at the federal, state, and local levels, many of whom were involved in efforts to enact the legislation, took...