Frank Lautenberg: “when the Senate considered the unfunded mandates bill earlier this year, I voted against it. I am prepared to vote…”

“when the Senate considered the unfunded mandates bill earlier this year, I voted against it. I am prepared to vote against the final version of that bill now. My concerns about S. 1 were not addressed in conference and, in fact, one could argue that bill comes back to us in worse shape then it left. The conference made two substantive changes in the bill. First, judicial review has been added to an already unwieldy process and, second, the threshold above which CBO must provide cost estimates for private sector unfunded mandates has been reduced from $100 to $50 million. These changes only reinforce my criticism of S. 1 as passed by the Senate in January: The procedural hurdles created by this legislation will only add to the arsenal of dilatory tactics which already have the ability to nuke necessary legislation and destroy public faith in the Congress. Last year, I supported legislation that would have addressed the problem of unfunded mandates in an appropriate and effective manner. That bill, S. 993, would have required Congress to think carefully and critically about the mandates we were about to impose upon State and local governments. We would have to acknowledge the magnitude of the burden before we passed legislation. Congress could no longer hide behind ignorance.…”