Description:
H.R. 5129 would reauthorize and amend the Community Services Block Grant Act. Although the authorization of appropriations for the programs in that act expired at the end of 2003, the Congress has continued to appropriate funds for them, including $787 million in 2022. The act would authorize the appropriation of $1 billion for each year from 2023 through 2027 and the appropriation of whatever amounts are necessary for each year from 2028 through 2032 for the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG). In addition, H.R. 5129 would authorize the appropriation of whatever amounts are necessary for each year from 2023 through 2032 for discretionary community programs, including community economic development, rural community development activities, and broadband navigator projects. For this estimate, CBO assumes that H.R. 5129 will be enacted before the start of fiscal year 2023 and that the authorized and estimated amounts will be appropriated in each year. Using information from the Department of Health and Human Services, CBO estimates that the department would need about $46 million in 2023 for the discretionary community programs. For years after 2027 for CSBG and after 2023 for the community programs, CBO estimates the authorization amounts by increasing the 2027 and 2023 amounts, respectively, consistent with the inflation rates that underlie CBO’s May 2022 baseline. Estimated outlays are based on historical spending patterns for existing or similar programs. On that basis, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost $10 billion over the 2022-2032 period. The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall within budget function 500 (education, training, employment, and social services).
