S. 145 would require the National Park Service (NPS) to reimburse states for funds they donated to the federal government to operate certain national park units during the period of lapsed appropriations that occurred from October 1, 2013, to October 16, 2013.
Governors of six states (Arizona, Colorado, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah) signed agreements with the Department of the Interior to donate about $3.6 million to operate 13 national park units. When the appropriations for the National Park Service were enacted on October 17, 2013, about $1.6 million of the unspent donations were returned to the states. Based on information provided by NPS and assuming appropriation of necessary amounts, CBO estimates that implementing S. 145 would cost about $2 million—an amount equivalent to the states’ donations that were spent to operate national park units during that period.
Enacting S. 145 would not affect revenues or direct spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
S. 145 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. The bill would repay the states of Arizona, Colorado, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Utah for funds they provided to the federal government as part of agreements to reopen certain national parks during the government shutdown in October 2013.
