Description:
H.R. 3624 would require public companies to annually disclose the number of people they employ in the United States (disaggregated by state) and in each foreign country. Emerging growth companies would be exempt from that requirement. Using information from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3624 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2019-2024 period to issue new rules and process the new disclosures. Because the SEC is authorized to collect fees each year to offset its annual appropriation, CBO expects that any net change in discretionary spending over the 2019-2024 period would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority. H.R. 3624 contains private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). CBO estimates that the cost of the mandates would be well below the threshold established in UMRA ($164 million in 2019, adjusted annually for inflation). By requiring public companies to annually disclose the geographic location (international and domestic) of their employees, the bill would impose a mandate as defined in UMRA. The incremental cost of the mandate would be small because the mandated entities already collect or possess the information to be reported under the bill. If the SEC increased fees to offset the costs associated with implementing the bill, H.R. 3624 would increase the cost of an existing mandate on private entities required to pay those assessments. CBO estimates that the incremental cost of the mandate would be less than $500,000. H.R. 3624 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.
