HR-8738 — FEC Administrative Improvements Act

YourVoice.Now Summary

Transparency & Accountability

Groups paying for election ads would file reports online — and campaigns could pay bills by card, not just check.

Transparency & Accountability

Public access to election-ad spending reports — filed electronically, not on paper

Today some of these ad-spending reports can be mailed in on paper. The bill would require online filing, which puts the same facts on the FEC's public website faster.

Check-only rule for campaign committee payments — cards, transfers allowed

Right now a campaign committee can pay its bills only by check from its campaign account. It could instead use a card or bank transfer from that same account, with no change to its reports.

More about this bill

Most people would see no change in daily life from this bill. It updates two paperwork rules for election campaigns and the groups that pay for political ads. Groups that buy election ads would have to file their spending reports online with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Electronic reports usually reach the FEC's public website faster than mailed paper ones. The bill also changes how campaigns pay their bills. Today a political committee must pay by check from its campaign bank account. It could instead pay by card or electronic transfer from that same account. The House passed the bill on July 13, 2026, and sent it to the Senate.

Congressional Summary

FEC Administrative Improvements ActThis bill expands electronic filing requirements and allows political committees to make disbursements by methods other than check.First, current law requires the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to make electronic filing mandatory for political committees and others required to file with the FEC who, in a calendar year, have, or have reason to expect to have, total contributions or expenditures exceeding a threshold amount set by the FEC (which is currently $50,000). Many independent expenditure reports are also subject to mandatory electronic filing. However, the current mandatory electronic filing provision does not apply to certain reports. This bill expands the types of reports that are required to be filed electronically to include electioneering communications (subject to the threshold amount).Second, current law requires political committees to maintain at least one campaign depository account and make all disbursements (other than petty cash disbursements) by check drawn on such accounts. This bill removes the requirement that disbursements must be made by check drawn on campaign depository accounts. Therefore, the bill allows political committees to make disbursements in other forms (e.g., credit or debit cards).

Legislative Subjects

Computers and information technologyElections, voting, political campaign regulationGovernment information and archivesPolitical advertisingState and local government operations

Details

Congress: 119th
Chamber: House
Status: summarized
Action: Introduced in House
Action Date: 2026-05-12
Date Added: 2026-07-10
Source: Congress.gov →

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