As ordered reported by the House Committee on House Administration on May 14, 2026
By Fiscal Year, Millions of Dollars | 2026 | 2026-2031 | 2026-2036 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Direct Spending (Outlays) | 0 | * | * | ||||||||
Revenues | 0 | * | * | ||||||||
Increase or Decrease (-) in the Deficit | 0 | * | * | ||||||||
Spending Subject to Appropriation (Outlays) | 0 | * | not estimated | ||||||||
Increases net direct spending in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2037? | No | Statutory pay-as-you-go procedures apply? | Yes | ||||||||
Mandate Effects | |||||||||||
Increases on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2037? | No | Contains intergovernmental mandate? | No | ||||||||
Contains private-sector mandate? | Yes, Under Threshold | ||||||||||
* = between -$500,000 and $500,000. | |||||||||||
On This Page
H.R. 3535 would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit foreign nationals, which includes foreign entities such as partnerships or corporations, from making contributions in connection with state or local ballot initiatives, referendums, or recall elections. Under current law, those foreign nationals are prohibited from making donations to candidates running for federal, state, or local offices.
Based on the cost of similar activities, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 3535 would cost the Federal Election Commission less than $500,000 over the 2027-2031 period. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Violators of the bill’s campaign finance requirements could be subject to civil and criminal penalties, which are recorded in the budget as revenues. Criminal penalties are deposited in the Crime Victims Fund and later spent without further appropriation. CBO estimates that any increase in revenues and associated direct spending would not be significant because we expect the number of violators to be small.
H.R. 3535 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by prohibiting foreign nationals from making contributions or donations in connection with a state or local ballot initiative, referendum, or recall election. Because some foreign nationals are private-sector entities under UMRA (such as corporations that operate within the United States but are organized in a foreign country), the new prohibition would impose a mandate. CBO estimates that the cost of the mandate would not exceed the private-sector threshold as established in UMRA ($214 million in 2026, adjusted annually for inflation).
The bill would not impose any intergovernmental mandates.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Matthew Pickford (for federal costs) and Andrew McLaughlin (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
Phillip L. Swagel
Director, Congressional Budget Office