GOP targets unfunded mandates

The Republican legislature in Washington D.C. expects that it will be successful at reducing the growth of the federal government by eliminating unfunded mandates, programs which force local government to pay for them once the federal funds run out. Congress is expected to be forced to either approve a certain measure and supply it with specific funding for it, or the program will not pass the House. Many of the unfunded mandates which are in operation include numerous environmental actions and business regulation, for which no price tag is suggested.
Among all weapons the Republican right is aiming at big government, unfunded mandates reform fired first. A backwater issue for years, mandate reform offers a way to nip future growth [...]