Congressional Budget Office

H.R. 3086 would make permanent a moratorium on state and local taxes on Internet access and some taxes on electronic commerce. Under current law, the moratorium is set to expire on November 1, 2014.

Congressional Budget Office estimates that enacting H.R. 3086 would have no impact on the federal budget, but beginning in 2014, it would impose significant annual costs on some state and local governments. The bill would not affect federal direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.

By permanently prohibiting state and local government from collecting certain types of taxes, H.R. 3086 would impose an intergovernmental mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).

CBO estimates that the mandate would cause some state and local governments to lose revenue beginning in November 2014; those losses would exceed the threshold established in UMRA for intergovernmental mandates ($76 million in 2014, adjusted annually for inflation) beginning in 2015.

CBO estimates that the direct costs to states and local governments would probably total more than several hundred million dollars annually.

H.R. 3361 would make several amendments to investigative and surveillance authorities of the United States government, and would specify the conditions under which the federal government may conduct certain types of surveillance.

The Congressional Budget Office does not provide estimates for classified programs; therefore, this estimate addresses only the unclassified aspects of the bill. On that limited basis, CBO estimates implementing H.R. 3361 would cost approximately $15 million over the 2015-2019 period, subject to the appropriation of the necessary amounts.

The National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (H.R. 3696) would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct cybersecurity activities on behalf of the federal government and would codify the role of DHS in preventing and responding to cybersecurity incidents involving the Information Technology (IT) systems of federal civilian agencies and critical infrastructure in the United States.

Although DHS currently conducts many of the activities covered by H.R. 3696 and has received approximately $800 million so far in fiscal year 2014 for its cybersecurity activities, some provisions in the bill would expand existing programs, provide additional authorities, or add new requirements beyond the agency’s current efforts.

Assuming the appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost an additional $160 million over the 2015-2019 period. Pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply to this legislation because it would not affect direct spending or revenues. H.R. 3696 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA).

Congressional Budget Office estimates that enacting the Safe and Secure Federal Websites Act of 2014 (HR 3635) would have no significant effect on the federal budget.

The legislation would amend federal laws that protect the privacy of personally identifiable information collected by the government. Personally identifiable information includes any information that identifies an individual such as name, Social Security number, and medical or financial records. The legislation would prohibit an agency from deploying a new website until the agency’s Chief Information Officer certifies that all such information is safe and secure.

Existing federal websites would have 90 days following enactment of HR 3635 to comply with this requirement. The legislation also would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue policies and procedures for agencies to follow in the event of a security breach of a federal data system that contains personally identifiable information.

OMB’s “Breach Notification Policy” requires all agencies to implement a policy to safeguard personally identifiable information and to provide notification of a security breach. Because laws and policies regarding the security of personally identifiable information are already in place, CBO estimates that the cost of certifying the safety of information collected by federal websites would be less than $500,000 over the next five years.

Enacting the bill could affect direct spending by agencies not funded through annual appropriations; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CBO estimates, however, that any net change in spending by those agencies would be negligible. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.

HR 3635 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.

As ordered reported by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on February 11, 2014, HR 3676 would direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations that prohibit air passengers from talking on cellular phones during domestic flights. The prohibition would not apply to members of the flight crew, flight attendants, or federal law enforcement agents who are on duty.

Based on information from the Department of Transportation, The Congressional Budget Office expects that promulgating the proposed regulations would cost less than $500,000, assuming the availability of appropriated funds. HR 3676 would impose a private-sector mandate by prohibiting airline passengers from talking on cellular phones during a domestic flight.

The Federal Communications Commission recently issued a proposed rule that would allow airlines to permit passengers to use cellular phones during a flight. If the FCC adopts the rule, the bill would impose a mandate by prohibiting passengers from engaging in all voice calls during a flight; if the FCC does not adopt the rule, only the prohibition on voice calls over an in-flight Internet service would constitute a mandate. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a notice that it is also considering a ban on all in-flight voice calls by passengers as an unfair practice to consumers.

[March 7]