INFLUENCE Act 2021-02-18 Introduced in House Intelligence on Nefarious Foreign Leaders Using Education Networks for Corrupt Enrichment Act or the INFLUENCE Act

This bill lowers the disclosure threshold regarding gifts or contracts from a foreign source that institutions of higher education (IHEs) must report to the Department of Education (ED). It also requires IHEs to disclose information related to foreign involvement in sensitive projects.

Under current law, an IHE is required to disclose to ED a gift or contract that is from a foreign source and is valued at $250,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with a foreign source. The bill instead requires the IHE to disclose such a gift or contract that is valued at $50,000 considered alone or $100,000 or more in combination with all other gifts or contracts.

Further, ED must update annually on its website a database of the disclosed information, and an IHE that receives a gift or contract from a foreign source must post certain information on its website. Information made publicly available must not include sensitive information.

Additionally, the bill requires IHEs to disclose information related to foreign involvement in sensitive projects. It also requires a specific contract provision for a cultural or language program that is funded by the Chinese government to operate at an IHE.

Finally, ED must establish a process to notify federal agencies of violations of the bill. ED must also report on foreign and national security issues affecting IHEs.

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