Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: 1996 and beyond

The first year of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was greeted with great expectations in much of the intergovernmental community. Slate and local governments did, in fact, realize some important victories in the Congress, both in softening the impact of new mandates end in reversing some existing ones. Viewed historically, these achievements certainly break with established trends. Yet, 1996 did not prove to be a watershed year. Significant new mandates and preemptions were passed, while slate and local victories were largely achieved in modifying how new mandates were to be implemented, not in determining whether new mandates would be enacted.