Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 5933 - Federal Courts Administration Act of 1992

(House)
(Hughes (D) New Jersey and Moorhead (R) California)

The Administration has no objection to House passage of H.R. 5933, in its current form. However, if section 909, relating to the certification of claims, were amended to: (1) apply its provisions retroactively; or (2) give conclusive effect to a contracting officer's determination that a claim was properly certified, the Attorney General would recommend a veto. Retroactive application could be costly, as described below. Making a contracting officer's determination conclusive could force the contracting officer routinely to object to the certification. This would undercut the goal of promoting quick settlement to these claims.

Pay-As-You-Go Scoring

H.R. 5933 would affect direct spending and receipts; therefore, it is subject to the pay-as-you-go requirement of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA). OMB's preliminary scoring estimates of this bill are presented below. Final scoring of this legislation may deviate from these estimates. If H.R. 5933 were enacted, final OMB scoring estimates would be published within five days of enactment, as required by OBRA.

ESTIMATES FOR PAY-AS-YOU-GO
($ in millions)

If section 909 were amended to apply its provisions retroactively, the bill could have a net effect of increasing direct spending. If insufficient offsets to the direct spending increase were provided, the bill would be subject to a budget point of order in both the House and Senate. If, contrary to the Administration's recommendation, the House waived any such point of order that applied against H.R. 5933, the effects of enactment of this legislation would be included in a look back pay-as-you- go sequester report at the end of the congressional session.

OMB's preliminary scoring estimate of such an amendment to section 909 of this bill is under development.