Unfunded mandates are laws that require compliance without accounting for costs. They include direct orders and unfunded grant mandates, and cover a range of topics. Compliance costs must be funded by state taxpayers or other funds.
Unfunded mandates occur when one branch of the United States government passes a law or bill that requires another branch to comply with it, without accounting for compliance costs. There are several types of unfunded mandates, including direct orders, grant conditions, and grant penalties. Unfunded mandates also cover a variety of topics, from ensuring nationwide uniformity to attempts to improve standards on nationwide issues. The many different types of unfunded mandates allow a government branch to ensure compliance without having to add funds to cover costs.
Direct orders require a state or local government to comply with a mandate exactly as specified. An example of a direct order is the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which requires all states to ensure that people with disabilities have access to public transportation. This means that the modification or addition of accessible public transit is required, even if a city or state already has equivalent transit options for disabled passengers. Direct orders are generally considered unfunded mandates because, while they require state or local governments to comply, they do not provide the funding to do so. If a state needs to redesign its entire bus fleet to comply, funding must come from state taxpayers or other state funds.
Unfunded grant mandates require a state or region to comply with an act or bill to receive or withhold federal grant money. Instead of requiring the affected area to raise funds directly to pay for new regulations, these unfunded mandates allow a region to increase its federal funding by using regional funds to comply with a law. Mandates that allow a region to obtain grants through state funding of an initiative are generally known as mandates with grant conditions. If, however, a state or region can lose eligibility to grant money for failing to comply with a new law, this is usually referred to as a sanctions grant mandate.
Direct orders and unfunded grant mandates can be used to enforce many different types of regulations. A federal minimum wage, for example, requires all states to pay workers a minimum hourly rate, even if workers are willing to work for less. Unfunded mandates are also often used to enforce environmental standards, as each state can have different environmental problems that require very different costs. Despite variations in method or intent, the major commonality of all types of unfunded mandates is that they require a state or local government to fully fund the costs of implementing and maintaining the law, even if these branches are not entitled to vote in the creation of the law.
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