H.R. 2615 would establish a commission to plan, develop, and coordinate the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Virgin Islands becoming an unincorporated territory of the United States. The eight commission members would serve without pay but would be reimbursed for travel expenses. The commission would be authorized to hire staff and could use the employees and services of the Department of the Interior and the National Archives on a reimbursable basis. Under the legislation the commission could spend gifts and contributions to cover its costs, but the use of appropriated funds would be prohibited. The commission would terminate by September 30, 2018.
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2615 would have no significant net effect on the federal budget. The legislation would affect direct spending because it would authorize the commission 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 negligible. Enacting H.R. 2615 would not affect revenues.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2615 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
H.R. 2615 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.
On March 18, 2016, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 2615, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 1, 2016. The two versions of the legislation and CBO’s estimates of their budgetary effects are the same.
