Honest Elections and Campaign, No Gain Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Honest Elections and Campaign, No Gain Act creates a new Federal Election Campaign Act section 303A for leftover campaign cash. A candidate's authorized committee or leadership PAC must disburse unspent funds before the earliest of the end of the applicable two-year disbursement period, the candidate's first lobbying contact or lobbying employment requiring Lobbying Disclosure Act registration, or the candidate becoming a foreign agent requiring FARA registration. Candidates who timely qualify for the next election for the same or another federal office are exempt. Remaining funds must first pay committee obligations and then may only be returned to contributors, contributed to section 170(c) charitable organizations, or transferred to national, state, or local party committees. The bill also prohibits payments to a candidate's relatives unless they satisfy legitimate reported committee obligations. For registration statements filed on or after the November 2026 federal general election, former candidates registering as lobbyists or foreign agents must certify, under penalty of perjury, that their authorized committees and leadership PACs comply with section 303A.
Who Benefits and How
Campaign contributors benefit because leftover campaign money is steered toward refunds, legitimate obligations, charities, or party committees instead of personal networks. Federal Election Commission auditors benefit from a bright-line post-election rule for unused authorized committee and leadership PAC funds. State election officials benefit because candidate qualification filings determine whether the next-election exception applies. Charitable organizations benefit because section 170(c) donations are one of the permitted destinations for remaining funds. Political party committees benefit because lawful transfers to national, state, or local party committees remain available after obligations are paid.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Former candidate committees must wind down or lawfully redirect remaining funds before the candidate starts covered lobbying or foreign-agent work. Leadership PAC committees must track the two-year disbursement period, candidate filing status, permitted destinations, and relative-payment restrictions. Lobbying registrants who were candidates must certify compliance under penalty of perjury beginning with filings after the November 2026 election. The Department of Justice FARA Unit must receive and police certifications from former candidates filing foreign-agent registration statements.
Key Provisions
- Requires authorized committees and leadership PACs to disburse unspent funds before a two-year deadline, lobbying contact, or foreign-agent registration.
- Provides an exception for candidates who timely qualify for the next federal election.
- Limits remaining funds to committee obligations, contributor refunds, section 170(c) charities, or party committee transfers.
- Requires former candidates registering as lobbyists or foreign agents to certify compliance under penalty of perjury.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires federal candidates' authorized committees and leadership PACs to disburse remaining campaign funds within a post-election period unless the candidate files for another federal race, limits remaining-fund uses to obligations, refunds, charities, and party transfers, bars payments to relatives except legitimate obligations, and gives the Federal Election Commission, Lobbying Disclosure Act filers, and FARA registration officials a certification-based compliance hook.
Key Policy Areas
Elections, Campaign Finance, Ethics
Primary Purpose
Requires federal candidates' authorized committees and leadership PACs to disburse remaining campaign funds within a post-election period unless the candidate files for another federal race, limits remaining-fund uses to obligations, refunds, charities, and party transfers, bars payments to relatives except legitimate obligations, and gives the Federal Election Commission, Lobbying Disclosure Act filers, and FARA registration officials a certification-based compliance hook.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Campaign contributors
- Federal Election Commission auditors
- State election officials
- Political party committees
Identified Costs
- Former candidate committees
- Leadership PAC committees
- Lobbying Disclosure Act registrants
- Department of Justice FARA Unit
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Castor of Florida (for herself, Mr. Bilirakis, and Mr. …
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition …
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Campaign contributors, Department of Justice FARA Unit, Federal Election Commission auditors
Positive-direction: Campaign contributors, Federal Election Commission auditors
Negative-direction: Department of Justice FARA Unit, Former candidate committees, Leadership PAC committees, State election officials
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology