H.R. 4939 would require the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to submit to the Congress a multi-year strategy to increase their engagement with the governments of some Caribbean countries. It also would require annual briefings and periodic reports on their progress. Finally, the Government Accountability Office would be required to provide two reports to the Congress; the first on the Caribbean basin Security Initiative and the second on diplomatic engagement with countries in the eastern Caribbean region. On the basis of information from the department and USAID, CBO estimates that there would be no cost to implement most of the bill’s requirements because they are already being met. However, CBO estimates that implementing the reporting requirements would cost less than $500,000 over the 2017-2021 period; such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply because enacting H.R. 4939 would not affect direct spending or revenues. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4939 would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
H.R. 4939 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal governments.
