S. 3729 would extend the obligation period by one year for certain funds provided to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in fiscal years 2019 and 2020. Under current law, the obligation period for the affected funds ranges between two and five fiscal years, depending on the particular program. S. 3729 also would stipulate that any funds released to FMCSA that would have expired under current law would not be subject to obligation limitations provided in appropriation laws.
Using information from FMCSA about the amount of unobligated balances for the programs that would be affected by the bill and the percentage of those programs’ funds that expired in recent years, CBO estimates that enacting S. 3729 would increase direct spending by an insignificant amount each year between 2021 and 2027 and would total about $750,000 over the 2020-2030 period. The additional spending would stem from amounts that CBO estimates will expire under current law that would instead remain available to obligate and outlay under the bill.
