S. 1572 would lower the threshold required to prove a violation of the federal carjacking statute. Under current law, a defendant must act with intent to cause death or serious bodily harm when taking a motor vehicle. Under the bill, prosecutors would need to show that a defendant acted knowingly when taking a motor vehicle. The bill also would increase criminal penalties for certain aggravating factors, including using a firearm during the offense or taking a motor vehicle with intent to cause death or serious bodily harm.
By lowering the burden of proof prosecutors would need to meet in federal carjacking cases, CBO expects that enacting S. 1572 would increase criminal convictions and criminal fines. Criminal fines are recorded as revenues, deposited in the Crime Victims Fund, and later spent without further appropriation. Using data from the Sentencing Commission, CBO estimates that a small number of people who are convicted of carjacking offenses pay fines and that enacting S. 1572 would increase revenues and subsequent direct spending by less than $500,000 over the 2026-2036 period.
Based on the costs of similar activities, CBO estimates that the Department of Justice would incur administrative and personnel costs of less than $500,000 over the 2026-2031 period to implement the bill. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeremy Crimm. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
