H.R. 1387 (119th)Bill Overview

COST Act

Government Operations and Politics|Government information and archivesGovernment Operations and Politics
Cosponsors
Support
Republican
Introduced
Feb 14, 2025
Discussions
Bill Text
Current stageCommittee

Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Introduced
Committee
Floor
President
Law
Congressional Activities
01 · The brief
Plain-English summaryWhat this bill actually does

Requires agencies and recipients using federal funds to state publicly the federal share (percent and dollar) and nongovernmental share (percent and dollar) of program, project, or activity costs in most public communications. Requires recipient certification of compliance in performance reports, annual OMB sampling reviews with public findings, and an anonymous public noncompliance reporting mechanism within one year.

Why people may split

Debate over administrative burden versus transparency gains

Watch point

Narrow, low-controversy transparency bill typically attracts bipartisan support and is relatively easy to consider in the House.

Requires agencies and recipients using federal funds to state publicly the federal share (percent and dollar) and nongovernmental share (percent and dollar) of program, project, or activity costs in most public communications.

Requires recipient certification of compliance in performance reports, annual OMB sampling reviews with public findings, and an anonymous public noncompliance reporting mechanism within one year.

Adds a new section to Title 31, United States Code.

Passage35/100

Low-cost, narrow transparency reforms have reasonable prospects but may stall over implementation burdens and Senate approval hurdles.

CredibilityPartial

How solid the drafting looks.

Contention32/100

Debate over administrative burden versus transparency gains

02 · What it does

Who stands to gain, and who may push back.

Likely benefits vs burdens50% / 50%
Federal agenciesFederal agencies · Local governments

These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.

Likely helped
  • Federal agenciesIncreases public transparency about federal funding shares for programs and projects.
  • Federal agenciesImproves accountability by enabling oversight comparisons of federal cost contributions.
  • Federal agenciesMay deter misuse of Federal funds through clearer public disclosure and monitoring.
Likely burdened
  • Federal agenciesAdds administrative and documentation burdens for federal agencies, grantees, and subrecipients.
  • Local governmentsImposes compliance costs that may disproportionately affect small nonprofits and local governments.
  • Potential burdenRisk of disclosing proprietary or sensitive funding details that complicate private partnerships.
03 · Why people split

Why the argument around this bill splits.

Debate over administrative burden versus transparency gains
Progressive75%

Views the bill as a pro-transparency measure that can improve accountability for federal spending, especially grants and contracts.

Will support the clarity it brings, but worry about compliance burdens on nonprofits, privacy for vulnerable beneficiaries, and potential political targeting of disclosed projects.

Leans supportive
Centrist65%

Sees the bill as a reasonable, pragmatic transparency reform that needs careful implementation.

Likely supportive if administrative burden is minimized and OMB guidance clarifies definitions and enforcement procedures.

Split reaction
Conservative85%

Likely to favor the bill as a common-sense transparency and accountability measure exposing federal spending shares.

May seek stronger enforcement, public databases, and broader application to reveal federal cost burdens.

Leans supportive
04 · Can it pass?

The path through Congress.

Introduced

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Committee

Reached or meaningfully advanced

Floor

Still ahead

President

Still ahead

Law

Still ahead

Passage likelihood35/100

Low-cost, narrow transparency reforms have reasonable prospects but may stall over implementation burdens and Senate approval hurdles.

Scope and complexity
24%
Scopenarrow
24%
Complexitylow
Why this could stall
  • No formal cost estimate or appropriation for OMB implementation
  • Undefined term 'nongovernmental sources' could create interpretive disputes
05 · Recent votes

Recent votes on the bill.

No vote history yet

The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.

06 · Go deeper

Go deeper than the headline read.

Included on this page

Debate over administrative burden versus transparency gains

Low-cost, narrow transparency reforms have reasonable prospects but may stall over implementation burdens and Senate approval hurdles.

Unlocked analysis

Pro readers get the full perspective split, passage barriers, legislative design review, stakeholder impact map, and lens-based policy tradeoff analysis for COST Act.

Go beyond the headline summary with full stakeholder mapping, legislative design analysis, passage barriers, and lens-by-lens tradeoff breakdowns.

Perspective breakdownsPassage barriersLegislative design reviewStakeholder impact map
Open full analysis