S. 994 would broaden the coverage of current laws against damaging religious property; that change would allow the government to pursue some cases that it otherwise may 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 spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Because people prosecuted and convicted under S. 994 could be subject to criminal fines, the federal government might collect additional fines under the bill. 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 bill would probably affect a small number of cases.
Pay-as-you-go procedures apply because enacting S. 994 would affect direct spending and revenues. However, CBO estimates that any such effects would be insignificant on an annual basis.
CBO estimates that enacting S. 994 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
S. 994 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
On November 20, 2017, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 1730, the Protecting Religiously Affiliated Institutions Act of 2017, as ordered reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary on November 2, 2017. CBO’s estimates of the budgetary effects of the two pieces of legislation are identical.
