The Congressional Budget Office (CBO [1]), has released an estimate [2] of how much it would cost for H.R. 957, also known as the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection—Inspector General Reform Act of 2015, which passed in the House Financial Services Committee [3] in September 2015.
The bill, which passed in the Committee by a vote of 56 to 3 on September 30, was sponsored by Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and would create an independent inspector general for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) who is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Currently, the CFPB shares an inspector general with the Federal Reserve.
“Government accountability is important now, more than ever,” Stivers said. “This legislation will allow for increased oversight of an agency that has been given broad authority. It is important that we take the necessary steps to ensure the CFPB is accountable to the American people.”
The CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 957 would increase direct spending by the federal government by $128 million over the 10-year period from 2016 to 2026 and would also increase revenues by $61 million over that same period (reflecting lower costs for the Fed’s OIG. These effects combined would increase budget deficits by $67 million over that 10-year period, according to the CBO.
“Pay-as-you-go procedures apply because enacting the legislation would affect direct spending and revenues,” the report stated. “CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 957 would not affect discretionary costs. CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits by more than $5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.”
Click here [2] to view the CBO’s entire report.