H.R. 5636 would require the Department of Commerce (DOC) to directly manage the law enforcement and security programs of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and to provide an annual report to the Congress on enforcement and security matters. The act also would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study on NIST’s current security services and to make recommendations on the use of private contractors to provide those services in the future.
DOC currently has responsibility for overseeing NIST security activities. Based on the cost of similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 5636 would cost less than $500,000 each year over the 2017-2021 period for DOC to prepare additional reports to the Congress and for GAO to conduct its study. Enacting H.R. 5636 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 5636 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
H.R. 5636 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
