An unfunded mandate is a statute that requires government or private parties to carry out specific actions, but does not appropriate any funds for that purpose.

For example, the No Child Left Behind Act has been criticized as an unfunded mandate. The Economist notes, "This requires all public schools to test students, in order to improve their education. In theory, the act fully finances the new tests. In practice, say local officials, implementing the act requires changes in the whole education system, not just adding a few extra tests. The cost, they say, is $35 billion a year more than the act provides for"[1].

Other examples

• The provisions in the United States Constitution that provide for direct election of Representatives, Senators, and the President, without authorizing appropriation of funds to conduct the elections[2].
• The provisions in the Americans with Disabilities Act that require nearly all American business owners to make their business premises available to disabled customers, without providing any funds for the cost of reconstruction or additional interior space
• The provisions in the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act that require nearly all American emergency rooms to accept and stabilize any patient regardless of the patient's ability to pay, but do not provide adequate reimbursement for indigent patients

Reference

• The head ignores the feet, The Economist, May 22, 2003.
• King, David C.: Election Reform as an Unfunded Mandate, Sep. 3, 2001.