S. 865 would require lobbyists to disclose whether they are claiming an exemption from the Foreign Agents Registration Act. CBO estimates that implementing the bill would not significantly increase the administrative costs of the House of Representatives or the Senate over the 2025-2030 period. Any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
Failure to disclose the newly required information could increase collections of civil fines, which are recorded in the budget as revenues. CBO estimates that those collections would not be significant in any year or over the 2025-2035 period because of the relatively small number of cases likely to be affected.
S. 865 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) by requiring registrants under the Lobbying Disclosure Act to indicate whether they are claiming an exemption under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. CBO estimates that the cost of the mandate would not exceed the private-sector threshold established in UMRA ($206 million in 2025, adjusted annually for inflation).
S. 865 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.
The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Matthew Pickford (for federal costs) and Andrew Laughlin (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
Phillip L. Swagel
Director, Congressional Budget Office