H.R. 6255 would amend the Lacey Act to prohibit the importation of 11 species of live lionfish. The bill also would restrict domestic transportation of those species. Using information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, CBO estimates that the cost of implementing H.R. 6255 would not be significant in any year.
Because people convicted of importing lionfish under H.R. 6255 could be subject to criminal fines, the federal government might collect additional fines under the bill. Criminal fines are recorded as revenues, deposited in the Crime Victims Fund, and later spent without further appropriation action. CBO expects that any additional revenues and direct spending would not be significant because the bill would probably affect only a small number of cases.
Because enacting H.R. 6255 could affect direct spending and revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates that the bill’s net effect on the deficit would be negligible.
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6255 would not significantly increase net direct spending and would not increase on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2029.
H.R. 6255 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by prohibiting live lionfish from being imported into and transported within the United States. The bill would primarily affect vendors who sell live lionfish as pets across state lines. CBO estimates that the loss of income to those vendors resulting from the bill’s prohibitions would be small and fall below the annual threshold established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($160 million in 2018, adjusted annually for inflation).
The bill contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.
