Laws imposed the greatest costs on businesses in 2014, study finds

Of the 224 public laws enacted in 2014, 16 passed unfunded mandates down to state, local or tribal governments, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office.

Of the 26 laws enacted that passed unfunded costs to the private sector, five exceeded the costs allowed, said the annual report released this week.

The CBO is required under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 to assess the cost of intergovernmental and private-sector mandates at certain stages of the legislative and rule-making processes.

{mosads}The thresholds for how much a law can impose without raising procedural hurdles was set at $76 million for local, state and tribal governments and $152 million for the private sector in 2014.

Some of the laws that carried costs for governments included the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, which created stricter rules for operating state foster care programs, and the Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities From Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014, which extended for four years existing standards for the security of chemical facilities that require vulnerability assessments and required site security plans to be developed and implemented.

The most costly private sector mandates, however, came from the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014, which expanded customer user fees through 2024, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act of 2014, which extends the period that insurers have to cover certain care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to veterans with conditions related to military service.