The 1995 unfunded mandates reform act: The politics of federal mandating meets the politics of reform

The adoption of federal mandate control legislation early in the 104th Congress of the USA culminated some 20 years of concern about the cost and intrusiveness of federal regulations imposed on state and local governments. Political activity appeared in two waves, the first of which began in the late 1970s and led to several control measures, but subsided after 1983. The 1995 legistlation, adopted after a continuing increase in mandating during the prior decade, reflected the combined efforts of state and local government officials, individual legislators, Republican and Democratic leaders, and policy researchers. Its enactment illustrates the multiple factors that may contribute to successful reform initiatives.