S. 2613 would authorize the appropriation of about $81 million annually over the 2017-2018 period for Department of Justice (DOJ) activities related to the registration of sex offenders. Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO estimates that implementing S. 2613 would cost about $160 million over the 2017-2021 period.
The bill also would establish new direct spending programs administered by DOJ to assist the survivors of sexual assault. Because enacting the bill would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply; however, CBO estimates that those costs would be negligible. The legislation would not affect revenues. CBO estimates that enacting S. 2613 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
S. 2613 would require law enforcement agencies to preserve evidence collected in sexual assault kits, notify sexual assault victims about procedures for preserving such evidence, and provide victims with the results from evidence testing. The bill also would prohibit agencies from charging sexual assault survivors for a medical forensic examination. Those requirements would be intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act (UMRA), but CBO estimates that the costs of the mandates would fall well below the intergovernmental threshold established in UMRA ($77 million in 2016, adjusted annually for inflation). The bill contains no private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA.
