Sponsors (10)
The bill provides a $160 million near-term boost to tourism promotion that should help hotels, restaurants, and local economies reliant on visitors, but it does so by diverting visa-fee-derived funds and federal balances—reducing resources available for visa-related operations and other priorities and imposing rules that may limit how quickly promotion dollars are used.
Tourism businesses (hotels, restaurants, attractions) and tourism-dependent local governments receive $160 million in Brand USA marketing funding, providing near-term promotional support intended to attract more international visitors and increase visitor spending.
Taxpayers effectively forgo $160 million in federal balances that could otherwise be used for deficit reduction or other federal priorities.
Visa applicants and visa-related federal agencies may face reduced resources because visa-fee-derived funds are being redirected to marketing, potentially weakening visa processing, oversight, or related services.
Small tourism businesses may receive less immediate benefit if Brand USA must meet matching and carryforward rules that limit how quickly the funds can be obligated and spent on promotion.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Transfers $160 million from unobligated Travel Promotion Fund balances to Brand USA within 30 days, exempting the transfer from an existing cap and applying Brand USA's matching and carryforward rules.
Official title: Transfer $160,000,000 from the Travel Promotion Fund to Brand USA.
Introduced November 19, 2025 by Daniel Scott Sullivan · Last progress November 19, 2025
Provides a one-time transfer of $160 million from unobligated Visa Waiver/fee-related balances in the Travel Promotion Fund to the Corporation for Travel Promotion (Brand USA). The funds must be transferred within 30 days of enactment, are exempted from the usual maximum-transfer limit, and remain subject to Brand USA's existing matching and carryforward rules.