By Larry Jones
June 27, 2005

At a June 13 Plenary session, Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne reminded mayors of the enormous challenge he faced ten years ago in sponsoring and winning passage of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, while serving in the U.S. Senate. Before the enactment of UMRA, he said it was common practice for Congress to pass unfunded mandates that imposed a huge financial burden on state and local governments. When he introduced legislation in May of 1993, he said only three other Senators agreed to sign on as cosponsors. Representative Gary Condit (CA) sponsored similar legislation in the House.

Kempthorne said was told he would be lucky if he got a hearing on his bill. As former mayor of Boise, he knew first-hand the problems that unfunded mandates posed for cities. To build support for his legislation, he told mayors that he turned to the Big 7 organizations in Washington that represent cities, counties and states.

Working with Kempthorne, the Conference and other Big 7 organizations set October 27, 1993 as National Unfunded Mandates Day, to educate the public and the press on the problems unfunded mandates posed for state and local governments. This successful strategy generated enormous grass'roots support which increased pressure in both Houses of Congress for members to cosponsors the bill. Shortly after NUM-Day Kempthorne said he received a call from Senator John Breaux (LA), who was being pressured by mayors from Louisiana. Breaux inquired about his bill and after he explained it, he said Breaux signed on as a cosponsor. Later he said Senator John Glenn (OH), who at that time chaired the Governmental Affairs Committee, also signed on as a cosponsor. Although grass'roots efforts helped generate a lot of support, the 103rd session of Congress ended without Congress taking action on the bill.

At the beginning of the 104th session of Congress, Kempthorne said Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole made UMRA a top priority in the Senate. It was the first bill to be considered on the Senate floor in January 1995. Although the bill encountered stiff opposition in the beginning, in the end it was initially adopted in the Senate by a vote of 86 to 10, and on final passage, it was approved by a vote of 91 to 9. President Bill Clinton signed into law on March 22, 1995.

Kempthorne said reports by the Congressional Budget Office show that the legislation has been successful in curtailing the number of unfunded mandates in Congress. After ten years, he said efforts are underway in Congress to review the legislation to build on that success and make UMRA even stronger.