S. 534 would broaden the coverage of current laws that require reporting of child abuse. As a result, the government might be able to pursue cases that it otherwise would not be able to prosecute. CBO expects that the bill would apply to a relatively small number of offenders, however, so any increase in costs for law enforcement, court proceedings, or prison operations would not be significant. Any such costs would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Enacting the bill could affect direct spending and revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Because those prosecuted and convicted under S. 534 could be subject to criminal fines, the federal government might collect additional fines if the legislation is enacted. Criminal fines are recorded as revenues, deposited in the Crime Victims Fund, and later spent without further appropriation action. CBO expects that any additional revenues and associated direct spending would not be significant because the legislation would probably affect only a small number of cases.
CBO estimates that enacting S. 534 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
S. 534 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
S. 534 would impose private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA because it would require national governing bodies recognized by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to develop and enforce policies to prevent the abuse of any minor or amateur athlete. According to testimony, the USOC already requires such entities to participate in its program to prevent abuse of athletes. Consequently, CBO estimates that the costs of complying with any additional requirements would be small. Additionally, the bill would require adults authorized to interact with young athletes by those organizations to report suspected abuse. CBO estimates that the cost to report information would be small and that the aggregate cost of the mandates in the bill would fall well below the annual threshold established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($156 million in 2017, adjusted annually for inflation).
On May 19, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 1973, the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse Act of 2017, as ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on May 18, 2017. The two pieces of legislation are nearly identical and CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.
