Sponsors (15)
The bill redirects $160M in fee balances to boost Brand USA marketing—potentially increasing tourism revenues and jobs without new appropriations—while shifting opportunity costs onto other uses of those funds and weakening a statutory spending cap.
Small-business owners in tourism (hotels, restaurants, tour operators), plus local and state governments in tourist destinations, will receive up to $160M in Brand USA marketing funds that could increase international visitors, boost revenues, create/secure jobs, and raise local tax receipts.
Taxpayers will not face a new direct appropriation because the bill uses unobligated fee balances rather than requesting additional Congressional spending.
Taxpayers will indirectly bear opportunity costs because $160M in fee-derived funds are redirected to Brand USA instead of other programs or deficit reduction, reducing resources available for alternative uses.
Taxpayers and congressional budget oversight will face weakened fiscal controls because exempting this transfer from the Travel Promotion Act's statutory cap creates a precedent for overriding statutory limits.
Small-business owners and private Brand USA partners may face constraints because matching and carryforward rules could limit immediate use of funds or shift costs onto private partners, delaying or reducing the intended benefits.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs a one-time transfer of $160,000,000 from unobligated Travel Promotion Fund balances to Brand USA within 30 days, exempting the transfer from the statutory cap while keeping matching and carryforward rules.
Introduced November 19, 2025 by Gus Bilirakis · Last progress November 19, 2025
Directs the Treasury Secretary to transfer $160,000,000 from unobligated fee balances in the Travel Promotion Fund to the Corporation for Travel Promotion (Brand USA) within 30 days of enactment. The transfer uses funds collected before October 1, 2025, is exempted from an existing statutory maximum-transfer limit, and remains subject to existing matching and carryforward rules for Brand USA funds.