# Plain Language Summary of H.R. 5805

This bill requires the federal government to start tracking and publicly reporting how much money it spends on advertising contracts. Specifically, every government agency will need to include information in its annual budget report showing how much it spent on advertising services in the previous year, and how much it plans to spend in the upcoming year. The key detail is that the government will separately track advertising spending with two types of businesses: those owned by women and minorities, and small businesses that are considered socially and economically disadvantaged.

The practical effect is transparency and accountability. Right now, there's no centralized requirement for federal agencies to report their advertising spending in a standardized way, so it's hard for Congress and the public to see the full picture of where this money goes. This bill changes that by making it mandatory for agencies to break down their advertising budgets and show how much they're spending with different types of businesses. This allows lawmakers and citizens to see whether the government is fairly distributing advertising contracts to women-owned, minority-owned, and disadvantaged small businesses, or whether those businesses are being left out.

The bill doesn't change how much money agencies can spend on advertising or require them to hire any particular vendors. It simply creates a reporting requirement that starts with the 2027 fiscal year budget and continues every year after that. Think of it as shining a light on government spending rather than making new rules about it. The information will help identify patterns and potentially guide future decisions about how federal advertising dollars are distributed.