Libraries get passport power—and a new revenue stream
S. 3733 — 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. · Filed by John Fetterman (D-PA) · 8 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 29, 2026 · Reported out
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill authorizes certain public libraries to serve as passport acceptance facilities and collect execution fees for passport applications they process. Libraries organized as nonprofits or charitable organizations can now retain the fees they collect, and any library that previously served as a passport acceptance facility must be authorized to do so within 30 days of enactment.
Why we flagged it
The bill expands passport acceptance infrastructure by authorizing public libraries—civic institutions—to process applications and retain modest execution fees. This is a straightforward public-access measure, not a regulatory carve-out or private subsidy.
What the text implies
- Libraries must be organized as nonprofits or charitable entities to participate; this may exclude some municipal library systems organized as direct government departments, creating a two-tier authorization structure.
- The 30-day retroactive authorization requirement for previously-serving libraries may create administrative burden if the Secretary of State lacks complete records of which libraries previously participated.
- Execution fee retention by libraries creates a financial incentive to process applications, which could theoretically affect service prioritization, though the bill does not address fee-setting authority or caps.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens gain expanded, localized access to passport services through libraries in their communities, reducing travel burden and wait times at traditional government offices. Libraries gain a modest revenue source to support operations, which indirectly benefits the public through improved library services.
Who stands to gain
- public libraries (nonprofit and charitable organizations)
- library systems (modest revenue from execution fees)
Named in the bill
Secretary of State, public libraries, nonprofit organizations, charitable organizations, Passport Act of June 4, 1920, United States Postal Service, State governments, local governments
Where it stands
8 cosponsors: 7 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Jan 29, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jan 29, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Foreign Relations · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations”
- Jun 17, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Foreign Relations. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $101,297 in lobbying spend. A filing names 25 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
John Fetterman, the sponsor, reported $40,875 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- American Library Association — $71,297 on 1 filing
- American Library Association — $30,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 24, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,187 characters) on Jul 9, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 24, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Libraries get passport power—and a new revenue stream” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s3733 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.