Sponsors (189)
Official title: To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for additional disclosure requirements for corporations, labor organizations, Super PACs and other entities, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 4, 2026 by Chris Pappas · Last progress March 4, 2026
The bill trades broader transparency, stronger enforcement, and tighter protections against foreign influence in U.S. elections for increased privacy risks, compliance and legal costs, and some procedural centralization that may chill speech and create enforcement uncertainty.
Voters and the public gain clearer information about who pays for political ads and communications because the bill requires expanded donor and beneficial‑owner disclosure and searchable FEC records, reducing 'dark money' and improving informed voting.
American voters and state/local governments are better protected from foreign interference because the bill tightens prohibitions on foreign‑funded disbursements, treats certain ballot initiative funding as covered, and enables FEC detection of foreign‑national contributions.
Federal enforcement, oversight, and adjudication are strengthened—through new criminal penalties for concealment, clearer FEC and DOJ enforcement tools, GAO reporting cycles, a public FEC database for minor-origin disbursements, and expedited centralized litigation—helping to deter fraud and speed resolution of disputes.
Individual donors, small donors, and targeted communities face increased privacy and harassment risks because broader disclosure and more detailed reporting can publicly identify contributors and sensitive targeting details, which may chill political participation.
Nonprofits, small businesses, local civic groups, campaigns, and online platforms will likely face substantial new compliance, administrative, and legal costs from more frequent reporting, 24‑hour deadlines, recordkeeping, and ambiguous definitions that push payers to seek legal advice.
Broad criminal provisions and wide statutory definitions risk ensnaring lawful actors (e.g., incorporators, agents, counsel) or imposing liability where intent is hard to prove, raising due‑process concerns and the potential for costly defense or chilling lawful organization formation.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Expands foreign-money prohibitions, increases rapid disclosure and beneficial-owner reporting for political spenders, limits minor disbursements, modernizes disclaimers, and centralizes judicial review.
Strengthens disclosure and enforcement rules for campaign spending, widens the definition of prohibited foreign-linked contributions, creates new reporting and disclosure duties for organizations and minor donors, updates disclaimer requirements for modern media, centralizes judicial review in D.C., and requires recurring GAO studies on illicit foreign money in federal elections. It phases in some rules (notably modernized disclaimers starting Jan 1, 2027) and sunsets some foreign-money reporting provisions after the 2036 Presidential cycle. The bill expands what counts as a prohibited contribution, tightens disclosure of funders and beneficial owners for organizations that spend on political communications, limits certain minor-made disbursements while allowing modest safe-harbor amounts, and speeds and centralizes litigation over FECA-related challenges by sending those cases to D.C. courts for expedited review.