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cost estimate
August 23, 2013
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As ordered reported by the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on August 1, 2013
H.R. 2481 would decrease direct spending by increasing the fees charged to certain veterans who obtain loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In addition, the bill would increase direct spending by enhancing certain protections for servicemembers and veterans with home mortgages, and by expanding eligibility for education scholarships. On net, the bill would decrease direct spending by $149 million over the 2014-2018 period and by $120 million over the 2014-2023 period, CBO estimates. Pay-as-you-go procedures apply because enacting the legislation would affect direct spending and revenues. (The effect on revenues would be insignificant.)
H.R. 2481 also would increase spending subject to appropriation, primarily by extending the authorization of appropriations for a program that serves homeless veterans. CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2481 would have a discretionary cost of $218 million over the 2014-2018 period, subject to appropriation of the necessary amounts.
The bill would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by adding and expanding protections for servicemembers under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). CBO estimates that the costs to public and private entities of complying with the mandates would not exceed the thresholds established in UMRA for intergovernmental and private-sector mandates ($75 million and $150 million, respectively, in 2013, adjusted annually for inflation).