Automatic Boost to Communities Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1030 To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to establish the Boost Communities Program to provide monthly payments to America’s consumers during the COVID–19 emergency to recover from the emergency, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 11, 2021 Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, Ms. PRESSLEY, and Ms. BUSH) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to establish the Boost Communities Program to provide monthly pay- ments to America’s consumers during the COVID–19 emergency to recover from the emergency, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Automatic Boost to 4 Communities Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1030.IH H1030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1030 IH SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 For purposes of this Act: 2 (1) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 3 the Boost Communities Program as set forth in sec- 4 tion 3. 5 (2) INTERIM BOOST CARD.—The term ‘‘interim 6 BOOST card’’ means a prepaid debit card issued 7 pursuant to section 3. 8 (3) PAYMENT PERIOD.—The term ‘‘payment 9 period’’ means the period— 10 (A) beginning on the first day of the first 11 month beginning after the date of the enact- 12 ment of this Act; and 13 (B) ending on the later of— 14 (i) the termination of the emergency 15 declared on March 13, 2020, by the Presi- 16 dent under section 501(b) of the Robert 17 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 18 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191(b)) with 19 respect to the COVID–19 pandemic; or 20 (ii) the date on which the national un- 21 employment rate (as determined by the 22 Bureau of Labor Statistics) is within 2 23 percentage points of the national unem- 24 ployment rate on the moving average of 25 December 2019 through February 2020, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1030.IH H1030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1030 IH and the 3-month average of the national 1 unemployment rate has declined for two 2 consecutive months. 3 (4) DIGITAL DOLLARS.—The term ‘‘digital dol- 4 lars’’ means dollar balances consisting of digital 5 ledger entries recorded as liabilities in the accounts 6 of any Federal reserve bank and digital coins or cur- 7 rency instruments issued by the United States 8 Treasury as legal tender, and held as bearer instru- 9 ments in any digital dollar cash wallet approved by 10 the United States Treasury. 11 (5) DIGITAL DOLLAR ACCOUNT WALLETS.—The 12 term ‘‘digital dollar account wallet’’ means a digital 13 dollar account, maintained by a Federal reserve 14 bank on behalf of any person, for the purpose of 15 holding digital dollar balances. 16 (6) DIGITAL DOLLAR CASH WALLETS.—The 17 term ‘‘digital dollar cash wallet’’ means any software 18 program, whose standards, specifications, and func- 19 tions are authorized and regulated by the United 20 States Treasury, which stores, sends, and receives 21 digital coins or currency instruments issued by the 22 United States Treasury as legal tender, and which 23 are considered bearer instruments in the possession 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1030.IH H1030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1030 IH of the individual or entity on whose behalf the wallet 1 is managed and administered. 2 (7) AT-RISK POPULATIONS.—The term ‘‘at-risk 3 population’’ means a population that is experiencing, 4 or reasonably may be expected to experience, unique 5 direct or indirect financial or personal hardship as 6 a result of or during the Coronavirus crisis, includ- 7 ing the elderly, homeless, physically disabled, and 8 those in remote areas, as well as any other popu- 9 lation as identified by the Secretary. 10 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 the Secretary of the Treasury. 12 SEC. 3. BOOST COMMUNITIES PROGRAM. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 14 program to be known as the ‘‘Boost Communities Pro- 15 gram’’. Under the Program, the Secretary shall make pay- 16 ments to eligible individuals for each month in the pay- 17 ment period. Such payments shall consist of a general as- 18 sistance component and a targeted supplemental assist- 19 ance component. 20 (b) PAYMENTS.—For purposes of this section— 21 (1) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.—The amount of 22 payments under the Program shall be— 23 (A) for general assistance— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1030.IH H1030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1030 IH (i) $2,000 per month to each eligible 1 individual thereafter during the payment 2 period; and 3 (ii) $1,000 per month to each eligible 4 individual a year after the payment period; 5 and 6 (B) for targeted supplemental assistance, 7 such additional amounts and sums as deter- 8 mined by the Secretary to be necessary and ap- 9 propriate to meet the specific needs of eligible 10 individuals who are members of at-risk popu- 11 lations, as identified by the Secretary. 12 (2) METHODS OF PAYMENT.— 13 (A) DIRECT DEPOSIT.—As regards recipi- 14 ents who have previously provided bank account 15 information to the Secretary, the Secretary 16 shall directly deposit Program payments into 17 these accounts, unless recipients indicate a pref- 18 erence to receive an Interim BOOST Card in- 19 stead, in which case that preference shall be 20 honored, and all subsequent Program payments 21 shall be made exclusively via the BOOST card. 22 (B) INTERIM BOOST CARDS.—In any case 23 in which subparagraph (A) does not apply, the 24 Secretary shall contract with banking institu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1030.IH H1030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1030 IH tions that includes minority deposit institutions, 1 community development financial institutions, 2 credit unions, national banking association, and 3 any licensed money transmitter as deemed nec- 4 essary or appropriate by the Secretary to issue 5 an interim BOOST card. 6 (3) INTERIM BOOST CARDS.— 7 (A) RULES RELATING TO INTERIM BOOST 8 CARDS.—The interim BOOST card shall— 9 (i) have all the functionality and serv- 10 ice levels currently available to certain re- 11 cipients of public benefits through the 12 Treasury Department’s Direct Express 13 program; and 14 (ii) not be subject to any fees or pen- 15 alty charges, usage restrictions, or data 16 collection practices other than those explic- 17 itly authorized by this Act. 18 (B) AVAILABILITY OF FULL BALANCE.— 19 The full balance of the interim BOOST card 20 shall be made available for immediate with- 21 drawal into physical currency at any automated 22 teller machine in the country, at any time, and 23 not be subject to any usage or withdrawal fees. 24 (C) DISTRIBUTION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1030.IH H1030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1030 IH (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 1 distribute interim BOOST cards using the 2 Postal Service to all eligible individuals 3 with an active address on file with any 4 government agency, and shall be delivered 5 by certified mail wherever possible, using 6 the fastest service available, with any asso- 7 ciated costs to the Postal Service reim- 8 bursed directly by the Treasury of the 9 United States. 10 (ii) IN PERSON PICK-UP.—Any eligible 11 individual who does not have an active ad- 12 dress on file with any government agency, 13 or who otherwise is not able to or does not 14 receive a prepaid card pursuant to clause 15 (i) may obtain an interim or replacement 16 BOOST card through any card distribu- 17 tion station set up under the Program, in- 18 cluding through any bank (as defined in 19 section 581 of the Internal Revenue Code 20 of 1986), insured credit union (within the 21 meaning of section 101(7) of the Federal 22 Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752(7))) lo- 23 cated in the United States, post office, 24 United States diplomatic missions or any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1030.IH H1030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1030 IH other Federal, State, or local government 1 agency or private contracting entity, as de- 2 termined by the Secretary to be necessary 3 or appropriate. 4 (iii) WEB-BASED ACCESS.—The Sec- 5 retary shall establish a website for the pur- 6 poses of allowing eligible recipients to up- 7 date their current mailing address and di- 8 rect deposit information, to indicate their 9 preference to receive an Interim BOOST 10 card instead of receiving payments via di- 11 rect deposit, and for providing account in- 12 formation to users, including information 13 pertaining to the account number, status 14 of delivery and receipt of their allocated 15 funds, and the amount of the funds still 16 available on their card and to obtain a 17 check in the amount of the funds in the 18 account. 19 (iv) TELEPHONE ACCESS.—The Sec- 20 retary shall establish a dedicated telephone 21 information and assistance number for the 22 purposes of allowing eligible recipients to 23 update their current mailing address and 24 direct deposit information, to indicate their 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1030.IH H1030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1030 IH preference to receive an Interim BOOST 1 card instead of receiving payments via di- 2 rect deposit, and for providing account or 3 card information to users, including infor- 4 mation pertaining to the status of delivery 5 and receipt of their allocated funds, and 6 the amount of the funds still available on 7 their card. 8 (v) AT-RISK OUTREACH.—The Sec- 9 retary shall establish a dedicated Emer- 10 gency Responder Corps, and where nec- 11 essary or appropriate, as determined by 12 the Secretary, shall contract with existing 13 Federal, State, and local government agen- 14 cies and private entities, to perform out- 15 reach to at-risk populations, including the 16 elderly, homeless, physically disabled, or in 17 remote areas, to ensure that these popu- 18 lations receive their interim BOOST card 19 as well as to perform a general wellness 20 check in case of needed targeted supple- 21 mental assistance, which shall then be pro- 22 vided in such sums and amounts as deter- 23 mined to be necessary and appropriate by 24 the Secretary via any payments mechanism 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1030.IH H1030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1030 IH otherwise authorized by this Act and 1 deemed appropriate for the circumstances 2 by the Secretary. 3 (4) REGULATORY TREATMENT OF PAYMENT.— 4 The Secretary shall apply the ‘‘XX’’ code specified 5 in section 212.3 of title 31, Code of Federal Regula- 6 tions, to designate all Program payments as benefit 7 payments. The Secretary shall further issue such 8 rules or guidance as needed to protect Program pay- 9 ments from garnishment. In addition, the Secretary 10 shall issue such rules or guidance as needed to en- 11 sure that any funds distributed through the Pro- 12 gram do not render recipients ineligible for any 13 other Federal, State, or local benefits or income that 14 they would otherwise have been entitled to receive in 15 the absence of the Program, including excluding any 16 general assistance or targeted supplemental assist- 17 ance received via the Program from calculation of 18 reportable annual income for the purpose of calcu- 19 lating eligibility for benefits subject to an income- 20 cap threshold. 21 (c) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible indi- 23 vidual’’ means— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1030.IH H1030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1030 IH (A) a citizen or resident (as such terms are 1 used in section 7701(a)(30)(A) of the Internal 2 Revenue Code of 1986) of the United States; 3 and 4 (B) any nonresident alien (as defined in 5 section 7701(b)(1)(B) of such Code) who has 6 been in the United States for more than the 3- 7 month period beginning on December 13, 2019. 8 (2) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 9 States’’ includes the 50 States, the District of Co- 10 lumbia, and the possessions of the United States, in- 11 corporated territories and citizens abroad. 12 (d) RULES RELATING TO PROGRAM.— 13 (1) COORDINATION.—To ensure that the Pro- 14 gram is as universal and comprehensive as possible, 15 the Secretary shall develop a list of eligible individ- 16 uals through coordination with the Internal Revenue 17 Service, the Social Security Administration, the Fed- 18 eral Election Commission, and every other relevant 19 Federal, State, and local government agency, includ- 20 ing State Departments of Motor Vehicles. Any ex- 21 penses incurred by any entity as a result of compli- 22 ance with the gathering of this information and con- 23 struction of this database shall be reimbursed di- 24 rectly by the United States Treasury. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:51 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1030.IH H1030 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1030 IH (2) DATABASE OF RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary 1 shall establish a database of recipients, identified by 2 name and, where available, employer identification 3 number, individual tax identification number, stu- 4 dent identification, or swear in an affidavit where 5 you are ineligible for a social security number and 6 unable to submit satisfactory proof that your pres- 7 ence in the United States is authorized by Federal 8 law. This affidavit will not be treated as public 9 record and use solely for the purposes of this pro- 10 gram. The database established under this para- 11 graph shall not be shared with any other Federal, 12 State, or local agency, other entity, or Immigration 13 Customs Enforcement and related enforcement 14 agencies, or used for any purpose other than to ad- 15 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]