S. 855, Royalty Transparency Act
S. 855 would require financial disclosure reports filed by staff in the executive branch agencies to include information about royalties received by those employees and would require people who serve on public health advisory committees to file such reports. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) would determine which committees’ members would be required to file those reports. All executive branch agencies also would be required to report to the Congress each year concerning the financial disclosure reports and to post that information online. Finally, the bill would direct the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to ensure that information in the disclosure forms regarding royalties is reviewed within federal procurement processes.
The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall within budget functions 550 (health) and 800 (general government).
Using information from some affected agencies, CBO estimates that the cost of implementing the bill would total $16 million over the 2025-2030 period. Any related spending would be subject to appropriation.
|
Table 1. Estimated Increases in Spending Subject to Appropriation Under S. 855 | |||||||
By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars |
|||||||
2025 |
2026 |
2027 |
2028 |
2029 |
2030 |
2025-2030 |
|
Estimated Authorization |
0 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
16 |
Estimated Outlays |
0 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
16 |
CBO estimates that the cost of providing annual reports to the Congress from the executive branch agencies would total $10 million over the 2025-2030 period. In addition, CBO estimates that the public health advisory committees would need the equivalent of 10 full-time ethics officers, at an annual cost of $115,000, on average, to process the significantly greater volume of financial disclosure reports required under the bill. In total, CBO estimates, the cost of hiring and retaining those employees would be $6 million over the 2025-2030 period.
Using information about similar activities, CBO estimates that the costs for the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, GAO, and OMB to implement the bill’s requirements would total less than $500,000 over the 2025-2030 period.
This estimate is subject to uncertainty about the number of public health advisory committees that would be governed by the new reporting requirement. Depending on GAO’s approach to identifying the committees, the number affected could be larger or smaller and outlays could be higher or lower than CBO estimates.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Cyrus Ekland. The estimate was reviewed by Emily Stern, Senior Adviser for Budget Analysis.
Phillip L. Swagel
Director, Congressional Budget Office
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