As ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 12, 2014
H.R. 4185 would make changes to the District of Columbia Official Code that governs the D.C. Courts system. Based on information provided by the court system, CBO estimates that the proposed changes would not have a significant effect on the federal budget. Enacting the legislation would affect direct spending because it would authorize the Court Services and Offender Service Agency (CSOSA) to accept and spend monetary gifts. Therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates that the net effect on direct spending would be insignificant. Enacting H.R. 4185 would not affect revenues.
Under current law, the budget of the D.C. Courts system, including the Public Defender Service (PDS) and CSOSA, is funded by federal appropriations, and its expenditures are thus recorded in the federal budget. Among other changes, the bill would allow the D.C. Courts System to collect debts and erroneous payments owed by its employees, and to purchase uniforms for non-judicial employees. The bill also would allow CSOSA to operate incentive programs for prisoner education, accept and spend gifts, and receive reimbursement from the D.C. government for the use of office space in D.C. Courts facilities. Finally, the bill would allow the PDS to use unpaid volunteers. Based on information provided by the District of Columbia Courts, the PDS, and CSOSA, CBO estimates that the proposed changes would not have a significant effect on the federal budget.
H.R. 4185 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.