| Proposal | Cost per Year ($ millions) | Total Cost | # of Years | Souce/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "So I hope we can work together this year on bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform … ." | -$75 | -$376 | 5 | Related legislation was introduced in the 114th Congress in the form of S. 502, the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015, which would reduce prison sentences for certain non-violent drug-related offenses. CBO scored a previous version of the bill in 2014 and found that it would lead to a net reduction in federal spending by $376 million over five years. (link) |
| " ... helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse." | $68 | $342 | 5 | In October, 2015, the White House released a Fact Sheet of steps initiated to address drug abuse. Related legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate as the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2015, H.R. 953 & S. 524. The legislation would increase spending by $342 million over five years. As introduced, the legistion calls for a corresponding reduction in "non-defense discretionary spending" however the specific account is unclear and it is also unclear whether the President would support this unspecified offset. (link) |
| " … helping students learn to write computer code … ." | Indeterminate | It is unclear what he would propose to encourage computer science education. Related legislation has been introduced as H.R. 4041, the America Can Code Act. A cost estimate is unavailable. (link) | ||
| " ... personalizing medical treatments for patients ... ." | $215 | $215 | 1 | President Obama's 2016 budget proposed a Precision Medicine Initiative funded at $215 million. Pending a line item appropriation from Congress, the National Institutes of Health have used general grant funding to launch related initiatives. (link) |
| "Fixing a broken immigration system." | Indeterminate | It is unclear what he would propose legislatively regarding immigration. During the 113th Congress, the Senate passed S. 744, which would have overhauled the federal immigration system by providing a path to legal status for many current illegal aliens and authorizing additional funding for border security measures. A Congressional Budget Office estimate of the bill as passed by the Senate indicated it would increase mandatory spending by $89 billion over the first five years and discretionary spending by $12 billion in that same time. (link) | ||
| "Protecting our kids from gun violence." | Indeterminate | It is unclear what additional proposals he would support above and beyond the recently announced regulations. | ||
| "Equal pay for equal work … ." | $3 | $15 | 5 | Related legislation has been introduced in the form of H.R. 1619/S. 862, the Paycheck Fairness Act. The bill would enhance regulations pertaining to equal pay. The text of the bill authorizes $15 million for compliance training, a grant program for negotiation skills training for girls and women, and research, education and outreach. NTUF assumes the outlays would occur over five years. (link) |
| " … paid leave … ." | $2,242 | $11,210 | 5 | Legislation has been introduced as S. 786, the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act. The bill would increase payroll taxes to finance a national benefit program. In 2014, NTUF examined OMB’s estimates of total social insurance program receipts for years 2015-2019 and increased those amounts by 0.2 percent to approximate the revenue increase that might result from a new payroll tax. Based on those calculations, the FAMILY Act could increase federal spending by $11.2 billion over five years. (link) |
| " … raising the minimum wage." | Indeterminate | Related legislation was introduced during the 113th Congress in the form of S. 2223, the Minimum Wage Fairness Act. That bill would have gradually increased the federal minimum wage to $10.10 and indexed it to inflation in years thereafter. CBO determined that the bill would not significantly impact federal outlays. It is unclear if this proposal would be scored similarly. In a related 2014 report, CBO noted that a minimum wage increase to $10.10 would reduce total employment by about 500,000 workers. (link) | ||
| " … providing Pre-K for all .. ." | $5187 | $25,934 | 5 | President Obama's FY 2016 budget proposed a Preschool for All program that would cost nearly $26 billion over it's first five years of full implementation. (link) |
| " … offering every student the hands-on computer science and math classes … ." | Indeterminate | The cost of a new math and science program is indeterminate. | ||
| " … we should recruit and support more great teachers for our kids." | $540 | $2700 | 5 | President Obama's FY 2016 budget proposed a Teaching for Tomorrow program "to support fundamental changes in how states and school districts recruit and prepare new teachers and strengthen professional support for teachers throughout their career" that would cost $2.7 billion over its first five years. (link) |
| "Providing two years of community college at no cost for every responsible student … ." | $3612 | $18059 | 5 | President Obama's FY 2016 budget proposed a tuition-free community college program that would cost $18.1 billion over its first full five years of implementation. (link) |
| " … we should strengthen [Social Security and Medicare]." | Indeterminate | It is unclear what he is proposing to "strengthen" these two entitlement programs. In 2015, the federal government spent $882 billion on Social Security and $639 billion on Medicare. (link) | ||
| " … we should make sure that [the unemployment insurance] program encourages [an unemployed worker] to retrain for a business that’s ready to hire him." | indeterminate | Last September, the White House released a fact sheet on the Administration's job training initiatives. It is unclear what additional funding he is currently requesting. (link) | ||
| " … there should be a system of wage insurance in place so that [a re-trained worker in a new job that doesn't pay as much] can still pay his bills." | indeterminate | A 2015 Brookings Institution paper outlined a possible wage insurance program that would be paid for by increasing the federal unemployment insurance tax. A cost estimate for the new entitlement benefit is indeterminate. (link) | ||
| " … expanding tax cuts for low-income workers without kids." | $4956 | $24781 | 5 | President Obama's FY 2016 budget proposed to simplify and expand the "refundable" Earned Income Tax Credit for individuals without qualifying children. This would reduce tax revenues and would also increase outlays for the "refundable" portion of the credit by nearly $24.8 billion over five years. (link) |
| "Tonight, I’m announcing a new national effort to [cure cancer]." | Indeterminate | During the SOTU speech, the Office of the Vice President posted an article to an internet site about the "moonshot" proposal to end cancer, including a call to boost federal spending, however the amound of funding was unspecified. (link) | ||
| "That’s why I’m going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet. That way, we put money back into those communities and put tens of thousands of Americans to work building a 21st century transportation system." | Indeterminate | It is unclear whether the President is calling to impose a new tax on carbon or a "cap-and-trade" tax on emmissions to increase spending on infrastructure. In 2009, the Congressional Budget Office determined that a cap-and-trade bill would increase spending by $241 billion over five years. (link) | ||
| "Approve [the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade] agreement. Give us the tools to enforce it." | It is unclear whether President Obama is requesting increased funding for administration and enforcement pursuant to Congressional approval of the trade package. | |||
| " … I’ll be pushing this Congress to fund [malaria eradication] this year." | Indeterminate | President George W. Bush initially launched the Malaria Initiative in 2005, calling for $1.2 billion over five years. In 2013, President Obama pledged United States' supprt of up to $5 billion in 2016. The level he is currently advocating is indeterminate. (link) | ||
| " ... I will keep working to shut down the prison at Guantanamo ... ." | Indeterminate | Last year, the Washington Times reported that operation of the Guantanamo prison cost $397 million in 2014, including $108 million for personnel and $113 million for the Office of Military Commissions. The cost of the President's plan to close the facility and relocate prisoners is indeterminate. (link) | ||
| "We have to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters … ." | Indeterminate | It is unclear through what means President Obama would push such reform. Related legislation in the 114th Congress including H.R. 934, H.R. 1347, and H.R. 2173 would provide payments to states based on a formula of $150,000 per Representative each state currently has to implement redistrictring reform. Such proposals could cost over $60 million. | ||
| "We’ve got to make voting easier, not harder, and modernize it for the way we live now. And over the course of this year, I intend to travel the country to push for reforms that do." | Indeterminate | It is unclear what reforms he would advocate. | ||
| SUM | $16748 | $82880 |
