H.R. 4544, American Access to Banking Act

Bill Summary

H.R. 4544 would direct federal financial regulators to analyze and streamline the application process for forming new depository institutions. Those federal financial regulators include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Reserve, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The bill would require regulators to increase communications with new institution applicants, state regulators, and other relevant parties and to coordinate with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Federal regulators also would be required to report any findings, actions taken, or legislative recommendations to the Congress.

Estimated Federal Cost

The estimated budgetary effects of H.R. 4544 are shown in Table 1. The costs of the legislation fall within budget function within budget function 370 (commerce and housing credit).

Basis of Estimate

CBO assumes that H.R. 4544 will be enacted in fiscal year 2026.

Enacting H.R. 4544 would impose additional administrative costs on the federal financial regulators, CBO estimates. We expect that during the six years after enactment, the regulatory agencies would conduct rulemaking, publish additional reports, and train case workers. After that, the agencies would continue to incur additional administrative costs for ongoing application processing and collaboration, though CBO expects that those costs would decline over time.

Direct Spending

The operating costs for the FDIC, NCUA, and the OCC are classified in the federal budget as direct spending. Using information from the affected agencies, CBO estimates that enacting the bill would increase gross direct spending by $36 million over the 2026-2035 period. However, NCUA and the OCC collect fees from financial institutions to offset their operating costs; those fees are treated as reductions in direct spending. Accounting for those fees, CBO estimates that enacting the bill would increase net direct spending by $12 million over the same period.

Revenues

Costs incurred by the Federal Reserve reduce remittances to the Treasury, which are recorded in the budget as revenues. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4544 would decrease revenues by $12 million over the 2026-2035 period.

Changes in costs for the Federal Reserve banks have historically resulted in changes to remittances during the same year. However, since fiscal year 2023, the central bank has recorded a deferred asset to account for accrued net losses from expenses in excess of income. As a result, remittances have been largely suspended. In CBO’s projections, remittances from the Federal Reserve will generally be suspended until 2030, and until they resume, most changes in costs incurred by the system will not be recorded as changes in remittances.[1]

Spending Subject to Appropriation

CBO estimates that the cost to the SEC to comply with H.R. 4544 would be insignificant. Because the commission is authorized to collect fees each year to offset its annual appropriation, CBO expects that the net effect on discretionary spending over the 2026-2030 period would be negligible, assuming appropriation actions consistent with that authority.

Pay-As-You-Go Considerations

The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays and revenues that are subject to those pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in Table 1.

Increase in Long-Term Net Direct Spending and Deficits

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4544 would not increase net direct spending by more than $2.5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2036.

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4544 would not increase on‑budget deficits by more than $5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2036.

Mandates

If federal financial regulators increase annual fees to offset the costs of implementing the bill, H.R. 4544 would increase the costs of an existing private-sector mandate on entities required to pay those fees. CBO estimates that the incremental cost of the mandate would be small and would fall well below the annual threshold established in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) for private-sector mandates ($206 million in 2025, adjusted annually for inflation).

The bill contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.

Estimate Prepared By

Federal Costs: Julia Aman

Revenues: Nathaniel Frentz

Mandates: Rachel Austin

Estimate Reviewed By

Justin Humphrey
Chief, Finance, Housing, and Education Cost Estimates Unit

Joshua Shakin
Chief, Revenue Projections Unit

Kathleen FitzGerald 
Chief, Public and Private Mandates Unit

H. Samuel Papenfuss 
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis

Estimate Approved By