Sponsors (3)
The bill aims to keep means-tested public-assistance dollars in the United States and improve provider transparency, but it does so by restricting remittances from benefit recipients—risking harm to families abroad, adding provider burdens, and pushing transactions into informal, higher-risk channels.
Low-income people receiving means-tested public assistance will have less of their benefit dollars leaving the U.S., which preserves limited public-assistance funds for domestic use.
International wire-transfer providers must collect written disclosures about recipients' public-assistance status, increasing transparency and creating a clearer audit trail for compliance and monitoring.
People receiving means-tested benefits would be barred from sending remittances abroad, preventing common financial support to family overseas and harming relatives who rely on those transfers.
Providers must obtain written verification of benefit status before sending transfers, increasing administrative burdens that can delay or deny access to remittance services.
Restricting formal remittance channels for benefit recipients could push people toward informal or unregulated money-movement methods, raising the risk of fraud, exploitation, and money-laundering.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars recipients of means-tested public assistance from making outbound international wire transfers and requires providers to get written notice of assistance status before service.
Introduced January 15, 2026 by Randy Feenstra · Last progress January 15, 2026
Prohibits people who receive means-tested public assistance from sending money from the United States to people or entities outside the United States by international wire transfer. It also requires international wire transfer providers to get written notice from a sender before offering international wire transfer services that states whether the sender receives such public assistance, and it defines “public assistance” as any payment or benefit from a means-tested welfare or public assistance program.