Under S. 3470, any federal agency receiving a substantiated claim that a grant or contract recipient is engaging in human trafficking would be required to refer the matter to the agency’s suspension and debarment official. Under current law, such a referral is optional. The head of the contracting agency would have the authority to impose various sanctions, including terminating the contract. The bill also would require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to report on efforts to end human trafficking in government contracting.
Federal agencies are subject to laws, orders, and directives that are aimed at preventing human trafficking; thus, CBO expects that the bill’s provisions would not significantly increase federal agencies’ administrative costs. CBO estimates that the cost of meeting the bill’s reporting requirements would be less than $500,000 over the 2022-2027 period.
