Then the bill would have to be amended to provide that the Budget Committee would get involved prior to the markup of the bill in committee. Because as I understand it, it is CBO that makes the estimate and the Budget Committee does not…

If I may say so, we are introducing a tremendous ambiguity, because we are saying in the bill that the first fiscal year after the effective date, and each 4 fiscal years thereafter, we will determine a critical estimate. I am giving the…

I may offer an amendment to basically have an inflation factor built in so that we would reestimate every few years what that $50 million or $100 million or $200 million is to the nearest $10 million. I have reserved a number of…

It would make it a relevant hypothetical because CBO is mandated in the bill to come up with the direct cost. In order to have a discussion of when the first fiscal year is triggered, I am saying this is the CBO conclusion. Assume for the…

If we can imagine a mandate which does not have a sunset provision or is not a 10-year authorization or not a 5-year authorization, it is just a permanent authorization, somehow or the other the CBO has to estimate the cost…

Is that the intent of the sponsors, that the CBO recommends? We do not give them any guidance? That the sponsors of the bill just throw it off to the CBO? We are writing a bill here. What are we urging the CBO to do?

Well, the amendment is $20 million, and $20 million is under the $50 million threshold.

If we could work out enough of these amendments, I would like to vote for this bill. I can assure my friend from Idaho that I supported the bill last year because I wanted to do something about these mandates. But we have to do it in a way…

Well, there seems to be two different opinions on this issue. I think that it is important that the language of the bill be clear as to whether or not a point of order would lie against a bill coming out of the Committee, which does not…

The committee is concerned about and recognizes the difficulty of making outyear estimates, particularly beyond the 5-year window. The committee notes that the new enforcement procedures are based on thresholds being exceeded. However, if…

now, under my hypothetical the Congressional Budget Office has made an estimate. It has taken into consideration each of the items that have been mentioned in the authorizing bill. I could not agree more with the Senator from Idaho that…

I am wondering whether or not the $200 million figure also goes up as well? It does. All right. That is fine if there is an inflation factor already built in. I thank the Senator from Ohio. Now, getting back to this question, let us assume…

Well, I think there is a serious ambiguity here and, to some extent, an abdication if we let this go without clarification. The abdication is that we must, as a Senate and a House, later on know what the legislation intended. It is central…

My question then of the Senator from Ohio is, since this is not an estimate of the 5-year costs, once that threshold has been reached--strike the five. I want to change my 5-year time. I do not want to get two 5-year periods in here. It…

I thank my friend. This is a very different process, may I say. The CBO would never have to determine whether or not there was a mandate that applied to local government, what year it is effective, and it was never required to create with…

I think, like most of us, that we must address the problem of unfunded mandates. I was a cosponsor of last year's bill. I am a former local official. I understand the impact of a mandate when Washington imposes it on us at a local level…

this bill has certain exclusions in certain areas where sponsors of the bill have determined that it should not apply. Section 4 on page 12 reads that ``The provisions of this act and the amendments made by this act shall not apply to any…

Mr. President, I wanted to ask a question of my friend from Oklahoma about the meaning of his amendment. As I understand it, the statement that would be required to be prepared, pursuant to section 202(a), if this amendment is adopted…

If the private sector mandate is $100 million more, that would trigger the reform.

let me read a letter from Consumers Power Co. This is a major energy supplier in my home State of Michigan. This is dated January 11: The Unfunded Mandate Reform Act of 1995 is intended to relieve State and local governments of unfunded…

While we are on this line--I am wondering, while we are focused on this one line of the bill, I have not had a chance to ask my friend from Idaho this question either. Is the reference to ``adjusted annually for inflation,'' adjusted from…

My question would be this: The word ``specific'' is not in here. Would this be clearer, does the Senator from Delaware believe, if the word ``specific'' were added before the words ``criteria and procedure"?

There are 800-some bills, which estimates were able to be made on the bills as I understand it in the last 12 years. That is where estimates could be made. And a whole bunch that could not be made. I do not think that the current law which…

the bill does not presume that we will pay for the increase on the private hospital. It does create a presumption that we will for the public hospital. Of course it can be waived by 50 votes. There is a presumption in the bill.

My question is this: On line 15, page 35, there is a reference to the $100 million which the Senator from Oklahoma is now amending to apply to either public or private. And my question that properly should have been addressed to the…