H.R. 500 would establish an advisory council to make recommendations to federal agencies on monitoring and combating human trafficking. The council would comprise five survivors of human trafficking and would meet at least once each year. The council members would not be considered federal employees but would receive per diem and reimbursement of travel costs for their service.
The operating expenses of the council, which CBO estimates would total less than $500,000 annually, would be covered by an existing authorization. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 authorizes the appropriation of $2 million each year in 2016 and 2017 for Department of State activities to monitor and combat trafficking; the bill’s new requirements would be similar to activities carried out under current law. CBO estimates that implementing the bill after 2017 would cost less than $500,000 over the 2018-2020 period, assuming the availability of appropriated amounts. Enacting H.R. 500 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
H.R. 500 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
