Description:
H.R. 2229 would allow the Secretary of State to waive passport fees for disaster response teams that assist in international relief efforts. Waiving passport fees would reduce both collections remitted to the Treasury and those retained and spent by the Department of State without further appropriation; however, CBO estimates those effects on revenues and direct spending would be insignificant because few people would be affected. The bill also would require the department to submit a report to the Congress on the number of waivers issued under the bill. Using information about the costs of similar reports, CBO estimates that satisfying the reporting requirement in H.R. 2229 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2019-2024 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has agreements with search and rescue teams in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Los Angeles County, California, to assist with the agency’s responses to international disasters such as earthquakes. Those two teams, comprising about 430 individuals, are required to hold current passports and be able to deploy within a few hours. Under the bill, when those individuals renew their passports or new members of the teams require a passport, the passport fees could be waived. (USAID indicated that it does not plan to enter into agreements with additional teams.) Passport renewal fees for adult applicants are $30 for the passport card, $110 for the passport book, and $140 for both. Roughly a quarter of those fees are recorded as revenues; the remainder is retained by the Department of State and spent on consular and border security programs without further appropriation. First-time applicants also pay a $35 execution fee which is either retained by the facility accepting the application (such as a post office, clerk of court, public library or other local government office) or deposited in the Treasury as revenue when the application is made at a Department of State facility. Therefore, waiving passport fees would reduce both revenues and collections retained and spent by the department by an insignificant amount.
