H.R. 98 would repeal several federal criminal statutes that have rarely been enforced in recent decades, such as writing a check for less than $1.
Under current law, violators could be subject to criminal penalties, which are recorded in the budget as revenue; those penalties are credited to the Crime Victims Fund and spent without further appropriation. According to data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, there have been no prosecutions for most of the affected crimes in the past 10 years, though there could be prosecutions in future years. On that basis, CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 98 would decrease revenues and the associated direct spending by an insignificant amount over the 2025-2030 period.
CBO estimates that any administrative costs to implement H.R. 98 would be insignificant; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jon Sperl. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
