H.R. 8738, FEC Administrative Improvements Act

H.R. 8738 would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to expand the communication reporting requirements for candidates running for federal office and permit political committees to make disbursements by methods other than by check. Using information from the FEC, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 8738 would cost the Federal Election Commission less than $500,000 over the 2026-2031 period. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

The bill also could result in the collection of additional civil penalties from violations of campaign finance laws, which are recorded in the budget as revenues. However, CBO estimates that any additional collections of civil penalties resulting from the legislation would not be significant because of the small number of anticipated violations.

H.R. 8738 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by requiring certain federal political campaigns and committees to file reports electronically with the FEC. Because these entities are already subject to existing reporting requirements and the duty would impose only a minor additional burden, CBO estimates that the cost of the mandate would fall below the private-sector threshold 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.