The COST Act would require agencies and any individual or entity carrying out a program, project, or activity funded in whole or in part with federal dollars to disclose key funding information in public-facing materials. Covered communications would have to state the percentage of total costs financed by federal funds, the dollar amount of federal funds provided, and the percentage and dollar amount financed by nongovernmental sources. The disclosure requirement would apply to statements, press releases, requests for proposals, bid solicitations, and similar documents, but not to communications of 280 characters or fewer.
The bill also requires recipients to certify compliance with these disclosure rules in their performance progress reporting. In addition, the Office of Management and Budget would be directed to review a random sample of public communications each year for compliance and publish the findings. OMB would also have to create an anonymous public reporting mechanism within one year for complaints about noncompliant communications.
Impact
If enacted, the bill would add a new section to title 31 of the U.S. Code establishing federal disclosure requirements for federally funded programs and projects. It would affect executive agencies, independent regulatory agencies, state and local governments, and recipients of federal research grants or other federal funds by imposing standardized cost-transparency language in public communications and by adding compliance certification and oversight obligations. It would also require OMB to conduct annual compliance reviews and maintain a public reporting channel, creating a new administrative transparency regime for federal spending communications.
Sentiment
There is no recorded committee debate or vote history in the provided materials, so the bill’s sentiment cannot be measured from formal discussion. Based on the text, the measure appears to be framed as a transparency and accountability bill, suggesting likely support from sponsors who favor clearer public disclosure of federal spending. No opposition arguments are documented in the available record.
Contention
No specific points of contention are captured in the provided transcripts or votes because none are available. Potential areas of debate, based on the bill text alone, would likely include the administrative burden on agencies and grant recipients, the practicality of calculating and updating funding percentages across many communications, and whether the reporting and anonymous complaint system could create compliance costs or enforcement disputes.
Article I Regulatory Budget Act This bill requires the establishment of a federal regulatory budget to limit the costs of federal regulations. It also establishes requirements for disclosing the projected costs of federal regulations and procedures for enforcing the regulatory budget.
No Subsidies for Wealthy Universities ActThis bill limits the indirect costs that are allowable under federal research awards to institutions of higher education (IHEs) with endowments above specified thresholds. (Generally, indirect costs represent expenses that are not specific to a research project but are needed to maintain the infrastructure and administrative support for federally funded research.)Specifically, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) must annually collect information regarding the endowments of each IHE that has entered into a program participation agreement with the Department of Education.With this collected information, NCES must identify and make lists of (1) each IHE with an endowment of more than $5 billion, and (2) each IHE with an endowment of more than $2 billion (but not more than $5 billion). NCES must submit these lists to the Office of Management and Budget, which must then distribute the lists to federal agencies, Congress, and the public.The bill establishes the following limits on the indirect costs allowable under federal research awards:for an IHE with an endowment of more than $5 billion, the IHE is prohibited from using these awards for indirect costs;for an IHE with an endowment of more than $2 billion (but not more than $5 billion), the IHE is limited to an indirect cost rate of 8%; andfor all other IHEs, an indirect cost rate of 15%.The Government Accountability Office must annually report to Congress on indirect cost reimbursement on federal research awards for IHEs.