S. 392 would establish a commission to plan activities and provide grants to develop programs and events to commemorate 400 years of Africian American history in the United States. The bill would authorize the appropriation of the necessary amounts for those purposes. The commission would consist of 15 members. Members would serve without pay but would be reimbursed for travel expenses. The legislation would authorize the commission to make grants to communities, nonprofit organizations, and other groups to conduct activities to commemorate the anniversary. In addition, the commission could hire staff, use personnel from other federal agencies or state governments, and accept volunteers to perform its work. The commission would submit a final report to the Congress and terminate on July 1, 2020.
Based on the cost of similar commissions, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost about $2 million a year—a total of $6 million over the 2018-2021 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. Enacting S. 392 would affect direct spending because it would authorize the commission to accept and spend monetary gifts; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates that the net effect on direct spending would be negligible. Enacting S. 392 would not affect revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting S. 392 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
S. 392 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.
On April 4, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 1242, the 400 years of African-American History Commission Act, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 28, 2017. The two pieces of legislation are similar and CBO’s estimates of their cost are the same.
