Bill · H.R. 9726· House(119-HR-9726)
CAP Act
- Introduced
- 7/16/2026
- Last activity
- 7/16/2026 — Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
- Sponsored by
- Tom Barrett
- Cosponsors
- None
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
This bill, known as the "Campaign Accountability and Parity Act" or the "CAP Act," proposes changes to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. It aims to establish a specific limit on how much money can be spent during a campaign. Specifically, it targets candidates running for the House of Representatives, including Delegates and Resident Commissioners. The limit would be based on the average amount spent by a Member of the House from their Members' Representational Allowance in the previous year.
Yes
Does this limit or expose the money behind campaigns?+6
The bill implements expenditure limits on candidates for the House of Representatives to promote campaign accountability.
Would households on low incomes be better off under this?+3
Reducing campaign expenditure limits may lower the financial barriers for less wealthy individuals to run for office.
Would middle-income households be better off under this?+3
Lower campaign costs could allow middle-class individuals more opportunity to seek public office.
The opposite
Would high-income households be better off under this?-3
Wealthy donors and candidates may be restricted by the new expenditure caps on campaign spending.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
- Establishing Expenditure Limits: The bill creates a cap on how much a principal campaign committee can spend in a year (Section 2). This could potentially limit the amount of money required to run for office.
Potential Negative Impacts for People
- Spending Restrictions on Candidates: Candidates for the office of Representative, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner would be restricted from making yearly expenditures that exceed the average amount made available via the Members' Representational Allowance from the previous year (Section 2).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Governance And Ideology
- Improves Campaign Finance Reform+6
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Low Income Households+3Good For Middle Class Households+3Good For High Income Households-3
- 7/16/2026
- Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
- Introduced in House