Sponsors (5)
The bill increases federal oversight and provides ongoing funding to improve safety for both fixed and portable amusement devices—benefiting riders and operators through stronger federal resources—but it raises costs for some small operators, adds ongoing taxpayer spending, and may create coordination challenges with state and local regimes.
Small-business owners and local governments that operate permanently fixed amusement devices will get clearer federal safety coverage and resources, enabling CPSC oversight, inspections, rulemaking, and recalls to improve ride safety.
Traveling operators and fair/portable-ride businesses will receive dedicated funding ($5.0M/year) to support safety activities for non-fixed covered devices, helping maintain safer operations at fairs and events.
The bill creates a sustained federal funding stream for amusement device safety activities (totaling about $11.5M/year), building ongoing federal capacity for inspections, standards development, and recalls that support nationwide safety consistency.
Small amusement operators and local governments may face new compliance costs to meet CPSC standards for permanently fixed rides, increasing operating or capital expenses for some operators.
All taxpayers bear an ongoing appropriation increase (~$11.5M/year) to fund the expanded federal safety activities, which could require offsets or displace other spending priorities.
Extending federal oversight risks regulatory overlap or confusion with existing state and local amusement-ride safety regimes, creating administrative complexity for operators and government agencies.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Brings permanently fixed amusement devices under the Consumer Product Safety Act, defines covered devices, and authorizes $11.5M annually for CPSC activities with a set funding split.
Introduced March 5, 2025 by André Carson · Last progress March 5, 2025
Expands federal consumer safety coverage to include permanently fixed amusement-ride devices by removing the current exclusion from the "children’s product" definition and creates a new definition of "covered device" for mechanically driven passenger amusement devices operated by employed operators. It also authorizes $11,500,000 in annual appropriations to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for activities related to those covered devices, with $5,000,000 each year reserved for non-permanently-fixed devices and $6,500,000 each year reserved for permanently fixed devices. The change brings more amusement devices under CPSC authority (potentially affecting manufacturers, park operators, and inspectors) and provides a dedicated funding stream for CPSC work on safety, testing, rulemaking, and enforcement related to those devices.