History and Evaluation of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) made two important changes in the way information about the budgetary impact of federal mandates is provided to and used by the Congress: it increased the supply of information about such costs and signaled Congressional willingness to use that information by establishing new points of order procedures for certain bills. Since UMRA's enactment, the quantity of detailed information provided to the Congress about federal mandates has increased. Furthermore, that information played a prominent role in the Congressional debate over several important intergovernmental issues. By focusing the mandates debate narrowly, however, the act's long-term usefulness in discouraging the federal imposition of costs on other levels of government may be limited.