Sponsors (9)
The bill improves local access to passport services and gives libraries modest new fee revenue, while imposing potential administrative costs on libraries and creating modest risks of delays or privacy issues for applicants and small shifts in existing revenue streams.
Residents — especially in rural and underserved communities and families — can apply for passports closer to home because more public libraries will accept applications, improving local access to federal services.
Public libraries that comply will be authorized within 30 days, preventing service interruptions and preserving local access to passport application support.
Libraries authorized as passport acceptance facilities can retain execution fees, providing modest new local revenue to support library services and programs.
Libraries — particularly smaller or underfunded ones — may incur administrative, training, and security costs to meet State Department requirements without guaranteed reimbursement.
Applicants (families and residents using library-based services) could face processing delays or privacy risks if libraries improperly handle passport procedures or records.
Expanding fee retention by libraries shifts a small portion of passport-related revenue away from existing State or Postal Service arrangements, affecting current revenue flows.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows eligible public libraries to serve as passport acceptance facilities and retain the execution fee under State Department rules, with quick reauthorization and a report requirement.
Allows eligible public libraries (including nonprofit, charitable, or trust-run libraries) to serve as passport acceptance facilities and to collect and keep the passport execution fee, so long as they follow State Department rules. The Secretary of State must quickly re-authorize any library that formerly served as a passport acceptance facility and was in compliance, and must report to key congressional committees explaining compliance or noncompliance within 30 days of enactment.
Introduced January 29, 2026 by John Karl Fetterman · Last progress January 29, 2026