A bill to amend the Passport Act of June 4, 1920, to authorize certain public libraries to collect and retain a fee for the execution of a passport application.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill amends the Passport Act of June 4, 1920 to allow the Secretary of State to authorize certain public libraries to serve as passport acceptance facilities. Eligible libraries must be organized as nongovernmental organizations, nonprofits, charitable organizations, or trusts and must comply with State Department passport acceptance regulations. Authorized libraries may collect and retain the passport execution fee.
Who Benefits and How
Nonprofit public libraries benefit because they can keep execution fees for passport applications they accept, creating a direct revenue stream for providing the service. Passport applicants in communities served by those libraries benefit from an additional local acceptance option beyond state officials, local governments, and the Postal Service. Libraries that already served as compliant passport acceptance facilities before enactment benefit from a mandatory 30-day authorization path.
Who Bears the Burden and How
State Department passport acceptance program staff must authorize eligible libraries, verify compliance with regulations, and report to the relevant congressional committees within 30 days on whether the Department complied. Public libraries that choose to participate must meet State Department rules for accepting and executing passport applications. Existing passport acceptance providers may face modest competition for execution-fee revenue in areas where libraries are added.
Key Provisions
- Allows the Secretary of State to authorize eligible public libraries to act as passport acceptance facilities and retain execution fees.
- Requires the Secretary within 30 days to authorize any previously serving compliant public library as a passport acceptance facility.
- Requires a congressional report documenting compliance with the 30-day authorization requirement or explaining noncompliance.
- Updates Passport Act language so public libraries are listed alongside states, local governments, and the Postal Service as entities that may collect execution fees.
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
Authorizes eligible public libraries to serve as passport acceptance facilities, collect and retain passport execution fees, and receive prompt State Department authorization if they were already compliant facilities.
Key Policy Areas
Government Services, Libraries, Travel
Primary Purpose
Authorizes eligible public libraries to serve as passport acceptance facilities, collect and retain passport execution fees, and receive prompt State Department authorization if they were already compliant facilities.
Policy Domains
Public library passport acceptance authority
Identified Gains
- Nonprofit public libraries serving passport applicants
- Passport applicants in library service areas
- Previously compliant library passport facilities
Identified Costs
- State Department passport acceptance program staff
- Participating public library compliance staff
- Postal Service passport acceptance locations
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedPlaced on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. …
Committee on Foreign Relations. Reported by Senator Risch without amendment. …
Committee on Foreign Relations. Ordered to be reported without amendment …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Introduced in Senate
Mr. Fetterman (for himself and Mr. McCormick) introduced the following …
Mr. Fetterman (for himself, Mr. McCormick, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Murphy, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Nonprofit public libraries serving passport applicants, State Department passport acceptance program staff, State Department passport acceptance staff
Nonprofit public libraries serving passport applicants
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "secretary"
- → Secretary of State
- "public_library"
- → Public library organized as a nongovernmental organization, nonprofit, charitable organization, or trust
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A public library organized as a nongovernmental organization, nonprofit, charitable organization, or trust and compliant with State Department passport acceptance regulations.
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