Description:
H.R. 295 would require multiple agencies to undertake new efforts to combat the financing of human trafficking. Specifically, the bill would require: The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) to review and enhance training for financial institution examiners, the examination procedures, and the procedures used to refer potential human trafficking cases to law enforcement agencies; The Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking to analyze U.S. efforts to fight money laundering related to human trafficking and recommend actions to strengthen those efforts to the Congress and federal banking agencies; and The Department of the Treasury to designate an office to coordinate government efforts to combat the financing of human trafficking. The FFIEC is a formal interagency body comprising the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Using information from the FDIC, the NCUA, and the OCC about the level of effort needed to carry out those activities, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 295 would increase direct spending by about $1 million over the 2019-2029 period. However, those agencies are authorized to collect premiums and fees from the financial institutions they regulate to cover their direct spending costs. Because those premiums and fees are recorded in the budget as offsets to direct spending, CBO estimates enacting H.R. 295 would increase net direct spending by a negligible amount over the 2019-2029 period for those agencies. (The CFPB expects its efforts to implement the bill would be minimal.) Costs incurred by the Federal Reserve System to implement the bill would reduce remittances to the Treasury, which are recorded in the budget as revenues. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 295 would decrease revenues by less than $500,000 over the 2019-2029 period. Based on the cost of similar activities, CBO estimates that the task force and the Treasury would spend less than $500,000 over the 2020-2024 period to carry out the required analysis and recommendations and to designate the new office. Any spending for those activities would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
