CBO Scores the Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things Act

The Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things Act (S. 1611) would require the Department of Commerce (DOC) to convene a federal interagency working group to report to the Congress on the Internet of things (IoT). The group would be required to identify laws and regulations that inhibit or promote IoT deployment, examine current and future federal IoT use, and recommend federal IoT security measures. Also under S. 1611 the Federal Communications Commission, in consultation with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, would seek public comments on current and future spectrum needs to ensure adequate IoT connectivity and to report those findings to Congress.

Using information from the affected agencies, CBO estimates that implementing S. 1611 would cost $7 million over the 2020-2021 period for DOC to hire about 22 employees to convene the working group and to issue the mandated reports. Such spending would be subject to appropriation of the estimated amounts. CBO also expects that participating in the working group and completing the spectrum report would cost the FCC less than $500,000. The FCC is authorized to collect fees sufficient to offset the costs of its regulatory activities each year; therefore, CBO estimates that the net cost of those activities would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority. If the FCC increases annual fee collections to offset the costs of implementing provisions in the bill, S. 1611 would increase the cost of an existing private-sector mandate on entities required to pay those fees. Using information from the FCC, CBO estimates that the incremental cost of the mandate would be small—less than $500,000—and would fall well below the annual threshold established in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) for private-sector mandates ($164 million, adjusted annually for inflation).