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HB480 • 2026

Elections; campaign finance, federal political action committees, reporting requirements.

<p class=ldtitle>A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 9.3 of Title 24.2 an article numbered 4.2, consisting of sections numbered 24.2-949.14, 24.2-949.15, and 24.2-949.16, relating to elections; campaign finance; federal political action committees; reporting requirements.</p>

Elections
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Helmer
Last action
2026-02-18
Official status
Failed
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information on penalties for non-compliance or the impact on small contributions. The effective date is also unspecified in the provided text.

Campaign Finance Reporting for Federal Political Action Committees

This bill requires federal political action committees (PACs) that make certain large contributions to Virginia candidates to file detailed reports with the State Board of Elections.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires federal PACs to report their contributions and contributors if they give $50,000 or more to a candidate for statewide office, $25,000 or more to a General Assembly candidate, or $10,000 or more to any other Virginia candidate.
  • Requires federal PACs to file reports within three business days of receiving contributions or loans over $10,000 during the year.
  • Requires federal PACs to report contributions and expenditures of $1,000 or more made between May 26 and June 3rd in odd-numbered years, and October 8th through election day in November.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Federal political action committees (PACs) that contribute to Virginia candidates.
  • Virginia candidates who receive contributions from federal PACs.
  • The State Board of Elections which will receive the reports.

Terms To Know

Political Action Committee (PAC)
A group formed to raise and spend money to elect or defeat political candidates.
Statewide office
An elected position that covers the entire state, such as governor or attorney general.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if a federal PAC fails to file required reports.
  • It is unclear how this will affect smaller contributions from federal PACs below the reporting thresholds.
  • The effective date of the bill has not been determined yet.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-18 House

    Left in Committee Privileges and Elections

  2. 2026-02-18 House

    Left in Committee Privileges and Elections

  3. 2026-01-21 House

    Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB480)

  4. 2026-01-19 Campaigns and Candidates

    Assigned HPE sub: Campaign and Candidates

  5. 2026-01-12 House

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104968D

  6. 2026-01-12 Privileges and Elections

    Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections

Official Summary Text

Elections; campaign finance; federal political action committees; reporting requirements.
Requires a federal political action committee that makes contributions of $50,000 or more to a candidate for statewide office, $25,000 or more to a candidate for an office in the General Assembly, or $10,000 or more to a candidate for any other office of the Commonwealth to make scheduled reports of its contributions and contributors to the State Board of Elections. The bill also requires federal political action committees that are required to make such scheduled reports to also report (i) any single contribution or loan of $10,000 or more received at any time during the calendar year within three business days of receipt of the contribution or loan and (ii) any single contribution received or expenditure made of $1,000 or more between May 26 and the third Tuesday in June in odd-numbered years and between October 8 and the date of the November general election in any year by 11:59 p.m. on the day following the contribution or expenditure.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 9.3 of Title 24.2 an article numbered 4.2, consisting of sections numbered
24.2-949.14
,
24.2-949.15
, and
24.2-949.16
, relating to elections; campaign finance; federal political action committees; reporting requirements.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Chapter 9.3 of Title 24.2 an article numbered 4.2, consisting of sections numbered
24.2-949.14
,
24.2-949.15
, and
24.2-949.16
, as follows:

Article 4.2.

Federal Political Action Committees.

§
24.2-949.14
.
F
ederal political action committees; reporting requirements.

A. The provisions of this section are applicable only to
federal
political
action
committees.

B.
After a federal political action committee has submitted a statement of organization pursuant to §
24.2-949.2
and upon making contributions of $50,000 or more to a candidate for statewide office, $25,000 or more to a candidate for an office in the General Assembly, or $10,000 or more to a candidate for any other office of the Commonwealth, the federal political action committee shall report its contributions and contributors in accordance with this section to the State Board by computer or electronic means as prescribed in §
24.2-946.1
.

C. The reports required by this section shall be filed on a form prescribed by the State Board and shall include (i) a report of the contributions the federal political action committee has made to candidate campaign committees or political committees in the Commonwealth during the period covered by the report and (ii) a list of each contributor who has contributed to the federal political action committee $2,500 or more in the aggregate during the period covered by the report with the contributor's name, address, occupation, employer, and place of business and the dates and amounts of the contributor's contributions during the period covered by the report. The first filed report shall be complete for the entire period from the time the federal political action committee
submitted its statement
of organization. The first filed report after any period of hiatus shall be complete for the entire period from the beginning of the election cycle for any candidate contributions that triggered the resumption of reporting requirements.

D. Federal political action committees shall file the prescribed campaign finance reports as follows:

1. Not later than April 15 complete from the preceding report through March 31;

2. Not later than June 1 complete from the preceding report through May 25;

3. Not later than September 15 complete from the preceding report through August 31;

4. Not later than October 15 complete from the preceding report through October 7; and

5. Not later than January 15 complete from the preceding report through December 31, and then continuing in accordance with this subsection until the last report after the end of the election cycle for any candidate contributions that triggered the reporting requirements of this section or upon submission of a termination report to the Federal Election Commission.

E. Upon transfer of a designated contribution to a designated candidate's campaign committee, the federal political action committee shall provide information to the campaign committee to identify the contributor as provided by §
24.2-947.4
.

§
24.2-949.1
5
.
Large dollar contribution reporting requirement for federal political action committees
.

In addition to the scheduled reports required by §
24.2-949.14
,
any
federal political action committee
required to file such scheduled reports
shall
also

report any single contribution or loan of $10,000 or more received at any time during the calendar year within three business days of receipt of the contribution or loan.

1. The report shall be filed on a "large dollar contribution report" form prescribed by the State Board and shall be filed electronically in the same manner as the
federal
political action committee files its scheduled reports.

2. Any contribution or loan reported pursuant to this section shall also be reported on the next subsequent report required under §
24.2-949
.
14
following receipt of the contribution or loan.

3. For the purposes of this section,
federal
political action committees shall report as one contribution multiple contributions from a single source that have been subdivided into smaller amounts or given through different bank accounts for the purpose of evading the $10,000 threshold. A
federal
political action committee that receives contributions from affiliated organizations shall not be deemed to be receiving contributions from a single source.

§
24.2-949.1
6
.
Special report required of certain large pre-election expenditures
.

A. Any contribution or expenditure reported pursuant to this section shall also be reported on the first
scheduled
report required by this article after any election.

B. Federal political action committees
required to make reports pursuant to §
24.2-949.14
shall
also
report any single contribution received or expenditure made of $1,000 or more between May 26 and the third Tuesday in June in odd-numbered years. Such contribution or expenditure shall be reported electronically pursuant to §
24.2-946.1
, and the report shall be received by the State Board by 11:59 p.m. on the following day or, for a contribution received or expenditure made on a Saturday, by 11:59 p.m. on the following Monday. However, any such contribution received or expenditure made within the 24 hours prior to the third Tuesday in June shall be reported and a report thereof received on the day prior to the third Tuesday in June.

C.
Federal p
olitical action committees shall report any single contribution received or expenditure made of $1,000 or more between October 8 and the date of the November general election. Such contribution or expenditure shall be reported electronically pursuant to §
24.2-946.1
, and the report shall be received by the State Board by 11:59 p.m. on the following day or, for a contribution received or expenditure made on a Saturday, by 11:59 p.m. on the following Monday. However, any such contribution received or expenditure made within the 24 hours prior to the election day shall be reported and a report thereof received on the day prior to the election.