S4130Referred to Committee

COST Act

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2026-03-18
Introduced
3
Cosponsors
S
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Joni Ernst
Joni Ernst
Republican · IA · Senator
Votes with party: 34.4% (320 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/E000295

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (3)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held.

2026-03-18

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

Previously

Plain-English Summary

The COST Act would require federal agencies to analyze the costs and benefits of their regulations before implementing them, with a focus on how those rules affect small businesses. The bill aims to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens on entrepreneurs and small business owners by making sure agencies carefully consider the economic impact of new rules. Small business owners and federal agencies would be the primary groups affected by this requirement.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Subjects

Government Operations and Politics

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4130 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4130 To put a public price tag on all projects supported with taxpayer dollars. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 18, 2026 Ms. Ernst (for herself and Mr. Scott of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To put a public price tag on all projects supported with taxpayer dollars. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Cost Openness and Spending Transparency Act of 2026'' or the ``COST Act''. SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL FUNDS. (a) In General.--Subchapter III of chapter 13 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ``Sec. 1356. Disclosure requirements for Federal funds ``(a) Definition.--In this section, the term `agency' means-- ``(1) an Executive agency, as defined in section 105 of title 5; and ``(2) an independent regulatory agency, as defined in section 3502 of title 44. ``(b) Disclosure Requirements.--An agency and an individual or entity (including a State or local government and a recipient of a Federal research grant) carrying out a program, project, or activity that is, in whole or in part, carried out using Federal funds shall clearly state in any statement, press release, request for proposals, bid solicitation, or other document describing the program, project, or activity, other than a communication containing not more than 280 characters-- ``(1) the percentage of the total costs of the program, project, or activity which will be financed with Federal funds; ``(2) the dollar amount of the Federal funds made available for the program, project, or activity; and ``(3) the percentage of the total costs of, and dollar amount for, the program, project, or activity that will be financed by nongovernmental sources. ``(c) Certification.--An individual or entity carrying out a program, project, or activity that is, in whole or in part, carried out using Federal funds shall, as part of the performance progress reporting regarding the program, project, or activity, include a certification indicating whether the individual or entity complied with the disclosure requirements under subsection (b) with respect to communications containing not more than 280 characters relating to the program, project, or activity. ``(d) Compliance Review.--The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall annually-- ``(1) review a random sampling of public communications issued by agencies and recipients of Federal funds for compliance with the disclosure requirements under subsection (b); and ``(2) make publicly available the findings of the review under paragraph (1). ``(e) Public Reporting.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall make available to the public a mechanism to anonymously report communications that do not comply with the disclosure requirements under subsection (b), which shall require that such a report include-- ``(1) the noncompliant communication or, if publicly available, the location of the noncompliant communication; and ``(2) identifying information regarding the program, project, or activity that is, in whole or in part, carried out using Federal funds.''. (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for subchapter III of chapter 13 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: ``1356. Disclosure requirements for Federal funds.''. <all>
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