Social and Economic Equity Promotion Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2078 To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to establish the Division of Social and Economic Equity in the Congres- sional Budget Office, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 19, 2021 Mr. MEEKS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Con- trol Act of 1974 to establish the Division of Social and Economic Equity in the Congressional Budget Office, 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 ‘‘Social and Economic 4 Equity Promotion Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2078.IH H2078 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2078 IH SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DIVISION OF SOCIAL AND 1 ECONOMIC EQUITY. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of the Congressional 3 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 4 601) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (g) 6 as subsections (c) through (h), respectively; and 7 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol- 8 lowing new subsection: 9 ‘‘(b) DIVISION OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC EQUITY.— 10 There is established in the Office the Division of Social 11 and Economic Equity to carry out the equity analyses re- 12 quired by section 402.’’. 13 (b) ANALYSES OF EQUITY IMPACT.—Section 402 of 14 the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act 15 of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 653) is amended— 16 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para- 17 graph (4); 18 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’; 19 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 20 lowing new paragraph: 21 ‘‘(3) as the chair or ranking member of the 22 Committee on the Budget of the House of Rep- 23 resentatives determines appropriate, an analysis car- 24 ried out by the Division of Social and Economic Eq- 25 uity of the impact on equity resulting from the en- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2078.IH H2078 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2078 IH actment of such bill or resolution in the fiscal year 1 in which it is to become effective and in each of the 2 4 fiscal years following such fiscal year, together 3 with the basis for each such analysis; and’’; and 4 (4) in the last sentence, by striking ‘‘and’’ and 5 inserting ‘‘analysis, and’’. 6 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Congressional 7 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 8 622) is amended by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘(12) The term ‘equity’ means the consistent 10 and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of 11 all individuals, including individuals who belong to 12 underserved communities that have been denied such 13 treatment, such as Black, Latino, and Indigenous 14 and Native American individuals, Asian Americans 15 and Pacific Islanders and other individuals of color, 16 members of religious minorities, lesbian, gay, bisex- 17 ual, transgender, and queer individuals, individuals 18 with disabilities, individuals who live in rural areas, 19 and individuals otherwise adversely affected by per- 20 sistent poverty or inequality. 21 ‘‘(13) The term ‘underserved communities’ 22 means populations that share a particular char- 23 acteristic, including with respect to geographic area, 24 that have been systematically denied a full oppor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2078.IH H2078 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2078 IH tunity to participate in aspects of economic, social, 1 and civic life, including populations of individuals 2 described in paragraph (12).’’. 3 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 4 of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Congressional 5 Budget Office shall, in consultation with the Select Com- 6 mittee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth of 7 the House of Representatives, submit a report to each 8 House of Congress of how the Office plans to carry out 9 the equity analyses required by section 402 of the Con- 10 gressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 11 (2 U.S.C. 653), as amended by this Act. 12 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 13 this Act shall take effect 6 months after the date the re- 14 port required by subsection (d) is submitted to both 15 Houses of Congress. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:50 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2078.IH H2078 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS