Description:
H.R. 2395 would amend the Inspector General Act of 1978 to expand the subpoena authority for inspectors general (IGs). The bill also would require additional reports on IG activities to the Congress, and would make technical changes to the authorities of the inspectors general.
Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $2 million over the 2016-2020 period to prepare additional IG reports and a report by the Government Accountability Office. That estimate is based on information from the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) and selected IGs. Enacting H.R. 2395 could affect direct spending by some agencies (such as the Tennessee Valley Authority) because they are authorized to use receipts from the sale of goods, fees, and other collections to cover their operating costs. Therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Because most of those agencies can make adjustments to the amounts collected as operating costs change, CBO estimates that any net changes in direct spending by those agencies would not be significant. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.
H.R. 2395 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
On March 17, 2015, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 579, the Inspector General Empowerment Act of 2015, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on March 4, 2015. Both bills address inspector general authorities, but S. 579 would authorize appropriations of specific amounts for the CIGIE. CBO’s estimated costs reflect that authorization and differences in the number of reports.
