H.R. 3501 would require the Administration to impose sanctions on foreign persons (individuals or entities) who interfered in U.S. elections. The bill also would require the Department of State to report to the Congress on its implementation of the bill.
Although the federal government has imposed a range of such sanctions through executive orders, CBO expects that enacting H.R. 3501 would slightly increase the number of people who would be denied visas by the Department of State and the number who would be subject to civil or criminal penalties. Most visa fees are retained by the department and spent without further appropriation, but some fees are deposited in the Treasury as revenues. Penalties also are recorded as revenues, and a portion of those penalties can be spent without further appropriation. In total, CBO estimates the bill’s enactment would have insignificant effects on both revenues and direct spending.
On the basis of the costs of similar reports, CBO estimates that providing the required reports would cost less than $500,000 over the 2019-2024 period. That spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
