S. 2535 would provide guidance and discretion for the Department of Justice to carry out certain functions in regulating the distribution and use of controlled substances. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would have no significant effect on the federal budget and would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
S. 2535 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA), but it would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in UMRA by reducing production quotas for certain controlled substances. The bill would direct the Attorney General to estimate the quantities of certain drugs (such as fentanyl, oxycodone, and hydrocodone) that are diverted from legitimate distribution and then to reduce manufacturing quotas accordingly. Using information from the Drug Enforcement Administration and published reports on the diversion of drugs for illicit use, CBO estimates that the cost of complying with lower quotas (that is lost revenue) would fall below the annual threshold for private-sector mandates established in UMRA ($160 million in 2018, adjusted for inflation).
