Description:
H.R. 2666 would reauthorize the AMBER alert grant program and extend grant eligibility to Indian tribes. The AMBER alert program is a partnership among law enforcement agencies, transportation agencies, and communication providers to provide public alerts on child abductions. Under current law, that funding is available only to states.
The bill would authorize the appropriation of $10 million in 2019—$5 million for AMBER alert grants and $5 million for the Department of Justice to carry out activities related to integrating state, regional, and tribal communication plans and developing new technologies to improve AMBER alert communications. Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts and based on historical spending patterns for similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $9 million over the 2018-2022 period. In previous years, no funds have been appropriated for those efforts.
Enacting H.R. 2666 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2666 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
H.R. 2666 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
On July 21, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 772, the AMBER Alert in Indian Country Act of 2017, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on June 13, 2017. The two bills are similar; however, H.R. 2666 would authorize the appropriation of $10 million in 2019, whereas S. 772 would authorize the appropriation of $10 million in 2018. Differences in estimated outlays reflect those different years.
