CBO Congressional Budget Office : Estimate of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Effects of H.R. 7718, The Protecting the Health and Wellness of Babies and Pregnant Women in Custody Act

September 28, 2020

CBO's Estimate of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Effects of H.R. 7718, The Protecting the Health and Wellness of Babies and Pregnant Women in Custody Act, as posted on the website of the Clerk of the House on September 25, 2020

https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20200928/BILLS-116hr7718-SUSv1.pdf

				By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	2027	2028	2029	2030
Pay-As-You-Go					Net Increase in the Deficit
Effects	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Memorandum:
Increases in
Outlays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Increases in
Revenues	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

2020-	2020-
2025	2030
0	1
0	1
0	0

The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays and revenues that are subject to those procedures are shown here.

Staff Contacts: Jon Sperl and Lindsay Wylie

Estimates relative to CBO's March 2020 baseline; estimated budget authority equals outlays.

H.R. 7718 would allow pregnant women in federal custody to file suit in federal court for grievances concerning prison conditions without first exhausting administrative remedies. As a result, CBO expects the bill would increase the number of suits filed by inmates against the Bureau of Prisons, some of which would likely result in a settlement paid from the Judgement Fund. While the number and magnitude of those settlements is uncertain, CBO estimates that payments from the fund will be insignificant in any year.

The federal judiciary charges fees to file suit in district court. Those fees are recorded as revenues and can be spent without further appropriation. CBO estimates that the number of additional suits filed each year would be small.

Taken together, enacting the bill would increase the deficit by $1 million over the 2020-2030 period.