Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1327 To amend the Federal Reserve Act to add additional demographic reporting requirements, to modify the goals of the Federal Reserve System, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 22, 2021 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. VAN HOL- LEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. REED, Mr. SANDERS, and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend the Federal Reserve Act to add additional demo- graphic reporting requirements, to modify the goals of the Federal Reserve System, 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 ‘‘Federal Reserve Racial 4 and Economic Equity Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1327.IS S1327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1327 IS SEC. 2. DUTY TO MINIMIZE AND ELIMINATE RACIAL DIS- 1 PARITIES. 2 The Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 221 et seq.) is 3 amended by inserting after section 2B the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 2C. DUTY TO MINIMIZE AND ELIMINATE RACIAL DIS- 5 PARITIES. 6 ‘‘The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys- 7 tem and the Federal Open Market Committee shall exer- 8 cise all duties and functions in a manner that fosters the 9 elimination of disparities across racial and ethnic groups 10 with respect to employment, income, wealth, and access 11 to affordable credit, including actions in carrying out— 12 ‘‘(1) monetary policy; 13 ‘‘(2) regulation and supervision of banks, 14 thrifts, bank holding companies, savings and loan 15 holding companies, and nonbank financial companies 16 and systemically important financial market utilities 17 designated by the Financial Stability Oversight 18 Council; 19 ‘‘(3) operation of payment systems; 20 ‘‘(4) implementation of the Community Rein- 21 vestment Act of 1977; 22 ‘‘(5) enforcement of fair lending laws; and 23 ‘‘(6) community development functions.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1327.IS S1327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1327 IS SEC. 3. APPEARANCES BEFORE AND REPORTS TO THE CON- 1 GRESS. 2 Section 2B of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 3 225b) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 5 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 6 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 7 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in- 8 serting the following: 9 ‘‘(B) economic developments and prospects 10 for the future described in the report required 11 in subsection (b), including a discussion of dis- 12 parities in employment, income, and wealth 13 across racial and ethnic groups as well as other 14 specific segments of the population; and 15 ‘‘(C) plans, activities, and actions of the 16 Board and the Federal Open Market Committee 17 to minimize and eliminate disparities across ra- 18 cial and ethnic groups with respect to employ- 19 ment, wages, wealth, and access to affordable 20 credit pursuant to section 2C.’’; and 21 (2) in subsection (b)— 22 (A) by striking ‘‘The Board’’ and inserting 23 the following: 24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board’’; and 25 (B) by adding at the end the following: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1327.IS S1327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1327 IS ‘‘(2) TREND INFORMATION.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each report required 2 under paragraph (1) shall include recent trends 3 in the unemployment rate, labor force participa- 4 tion rate, employment to population ratio, me- 5 dian household income, and change in real 6 earnings. 7 ‘‘(B) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION.—The 8 trends required to be reported under subpara- 9 graph (A) shall include a comparison among 10 different demographic groups, including race 11 (White, African-American, Latino, Native 12 American, and Asian populations), ethnicity, 13 gender, and educational attainment.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1327.IS S1327 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS