Description:
S. 1537 would authorize the appropriation of $6.5 million a year through 2023 for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to provide grants for the conservation of neotropical migratory birds. In 2018, the USFWS received appropriations totaling $4 million to carry out that program. As shown in the attached table and based on historical spending patterns, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1537 would cost $29 million over the 2019-2023 period, assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts. The costs of the legislation fall within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment). Enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting S. 1537 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029. S. 1537 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. On September 8, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 1514, the HELP for Wildlife Act, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on July 26, 2017. Section 6 of S. 1514 is similar to S. 1537 and CBO’s estimates of the budgetary effects are the same.
