Federal law sometimes requires state, local, or tribal governments to spend money to achieve certain goals. In some cases, a requirement is imposed as a condition for receiving federal aid; in others, requirements can be imposed through the exercise of the federal government's sovereign power. The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) focuses attention on requirements that are not conditions of aid. The law specifies which types of requirements should or should not be considered mandates, establishes procedures that govern Congressional consideration of such mandates, and directs the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to estimate the mandates' costs. (CBO estimates the costs of intergovernmental and private-sector mandates for virtually every bill reported from an authorizing committee. This brief focuses exclusively on intergovernmental issues.) UMRA's goal is to promote informed decisionmaking by the Congress as it considers questions about the appropriateness of federal mandates on other levels of government and about the desirability of providing financial assistance to cover the costs of intergovernmental mandates. (Contains 12 footnotes.)