2 U.S.C. § 1513: Impact on local governments

Summary

The Senate wants federal and state governments to stop pushing costs down to local governments. Shifting costs this way often forces cities and counties to raise property taxes or cut important services, which can make it harder for people to buy and keep a home in a safe neighborhood. States should not make local governments take on new duties without lawmakers fully reviewing those requirements and providing enough state money. A main goal is to lower taxes and spending at all levels and to stop passing costs to taxpayers when it does not help them.

Title 2, §1513

The Congress, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Findings

The Senate finds that—

(1)the Congress should be concerned about shifting costs from Federal to State and local authorities and should be equally concerned about the growing tendency of States to shift costs to local governments;

(2)cost shifting from States to local governments has, in many instances, forced local governments to raise property taxes or curtail sometimes essential services; and

(3)increases in local property taxes and cuts in essential services threaten the ability of many citizens to attain and maintain the American dream of owning a home in a safe, secure community.

(b)Sense of Senate

It is the sense of the Senate that—

(1)the Federal Government should not shift certain costs to the State, and States should end the practice of shifting costs to local governments, which forces many local governments to increase property taxes;

(2)States should end the imposition, in the absence of full consideration by their legislatures, of State issued mandates on local governments without adequate State funding, in a manner that may displace other essential government priorities; and

(3)one primary objective of this chapter and other efforts to change the relationship among Federal, State, and local governments should be to reduce taxes and spending at all levels and to end the practice of shifting costs from one level of government to another with little or no benefit to taxpayers.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 104–4, Mar. 22, 1995, 109 Stat. 48, known as the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1501 of this title and Tables.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section effective Jan. 1, 1996, or on the date 90 days after appropriations are made available as authorized under section 1516 of this title, whichever is earlier, and applicable to legislation considered on and after such date, see section 110 of Pub. L. 104–4, set out as a note under section 1511 of this title.

§1513 Impact on Local Governments