Protecting Innocent Consumers Affected by a Shutdown Act

IB Union Calendar No. 520 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4328 [Report No. 116–635] To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect certain consumers affected by a shutdown, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. WEXTON, and Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services DECEMBER 8, 2020 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 13, 2019] VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4328.RH H4328 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4328 RH A BILL To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect certain consumers affected by a shutdown, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4328.RH H4328 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4328 RH 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 ‘‘Protecting Innocent 4 Consumers Affected by a Shutdown Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 7 U.S.C. 1681a), as amended by section 302(b)(1) of the Eco- 8 nomic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection 9 Act (Public Law 115–174), is amended by adding at the 10 end the following: 11 ‘‘(bb) EMPLOYEE AFFECTED BY A SHUTDOWN.—With 12 respect to a shutdown, the term ‘employee affected by a shut- 13 down’ means a consumer who— 14 ‘‘(1) is an employee of— 15 ‘‘(A) the Federal Government, and who is 16 furloughed or excepted from a furlough during 17 the shutdown; 18 ‘‘(B) the District of Columbia, and who is 19 not receiving pay because of the shutdown; or 20 ‘‘(C) a Federal contractor (as defined under 21 section 7101 of title 41, United States Code) or 22 other business, and who has experienced a sub- 23 stantial reduction in pay (directly or indirectly) 24 due to the shutdown; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4328.RH H4328 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4328 RH ‘‘(2) who— 1 ‘‘(A) is listed in the database established 2 under section 630; or 3 ‘‘(B) has self-certified pursuant to such sec- 4 tion. 5 ‘‘(cc) SHUTDOWN.—The term ‘shutdown’ means any 6 period in which there is more than a 24-hour lapse in ap- 7 propriations as a result of a failure to enact a regular ap- 8 propriations bill or continuing resolution. 9 ‘‘(dd) COVERED SHUTDOWN PERIOD.—The term ‘cov- 10 ered shutdown period’ means, with respect to a shutdown, 11 the period beginning on the first day of the shutdown and 12 ending on the date that is 90 days after the last day of 13 the shutdown.’’. 14 SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FOR EMPLOYEES AFFECTED BY A SHUT- 15 DOWN. 16 Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 17 U.S.C. 1681c(a)), as amended by section 302(b)(2) of the 18 Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Pro- 19 tection Act (Public Law 115–174), is amended by adding 20 at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(9) Any adverse item of information with re- 22 spect to an action or inaction taken during a covered 23 shutdown period by an employee affected by a shut- 24 down.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4328.RH H4328 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4328 RH SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO SUMMARY OF RIGHTS FOR EM- 1 PLOYEES AFFECTED BY A SHUTDOWN. 2 Section 609(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 3 U.S.C. 1681g(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(7) Information on the rights of an employee 6 affected by a shutdown, including which consumers 7 may be an employee affected by a shutdown and the 8 process for a consumer to self-certify as an employee 9 affected by a shutdown under section 630.’’. 10 SEC. 5. DATABASE AND SELF-CERTIFICATION FOR EMPLOY- 11 EES AFFECTED BY A SHUTDOWN. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 13 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 14 following new section: 15 ‘‘§ 630. Database and self-certification for employees 16 affected by a shutdown 17 ‘‘(a) DATABASE.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each shut- 19 down, the consumer reporting agencies described in 20 section 603(p) shall jointly establish a database that 21 includes employees affected by the shutdown as re- 22 ported pursuant to paragraph (2). 23 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF DATABASE.— 24 ‘‘(A) FURLOUGHED EMPLOYEES AND CON- 25 TRACTORS.—Each authority of the executive, leg- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4328.RH H4328 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4328 RH islative, or judicial branch of the Federal Gov- 1 ernment or District of Columbia shall provide to 2 the consumer reporting agencies described in sec- 3 tion 603(p) a list identifying— 4 ‘‘(i) employees of such authority that 5 are furloughed, excepted from furlough, or 6 not receiving pay because of a shutdown; 7 and 8 ‘‘(ii) to the extent practicable, employ- 9 ees of contractors of such authority. 10 ‘‘(B) SELF-CERTIFIED CONSUMERS.—A con- 11 sumer that self-certifies as an employee affected 12 by a shutdown pursuant to subsection (b) shall 13 be included in the database, unless the Bureau 14 determines such consumer is not an employee af- 15 fected by a shutdown. 16 ‘‘(3) ACCESS TO DATABASE.—The consumer re- 17 porting agencies described in section 603(p) shall 18 make the database established under this subsection 19 available to the Bureau, other consumer reporting 20 agencies, furnishers of information to consumer re- 21 porting agencies, and users of consumer reports. A 22 consumer reporting agency described in section 603(x) 23 shall periodically access the database to confirm the 24 accuracy of information such an agency has that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4328.RH H4328 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4328 RH identifies a consumer as an employee affected by a 1 shutdown. 2 ‘‘(b) SELF-CERTIFICATION PROCESS.—A consumer 3 shall be deemed to be an employee affected by a shutdown 4 if such consumer self-certifies through— 5 ‘‘(1) the website established under subsection (c); 6 or 7 ‘‘(2) a toll-free telephone number established by 8 a consumer reporting agency. 9 ‘‘(c) WEBSITE.—The consumer reporting agencies de- 10 scribed in section 603(p) shall jointly establish a website 11 for a consumer to self-certify as an employee affected by 12 a shutdown. Such website may not include any advertise- 13 ment or other solicitation.’’. 14 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table of 15 contents of the Fair Credit Reporting Act is amended by 16 adding at the end the following new item: 17 ‘‘630. Database and self-certification for employees affected by a shutdown.’’. SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON ADVERSE ACTIONS AGAINST EM- 18 PLOYEES AFFECTED BY A SHUTDOWN. 19 Section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 20 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 21 lowing: 22 ‘‘(h) PROHIBITION ON ADVERSE ACTIONS AGAINST 23 EMPLOYEES AFFECTED BY A SHUTDOWN.—If a user of a 24 consumer report knows that a consumer is an employee af- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4328.RH H4328 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4328 RH fected by a shutdown, such user may not take an adverse 1 action based on— 2 ‘‘(1) any adverse item of information contained 3 in such report with respect to an action or inaction 4 taken during a covered shutdown period by the em- 5 ployee; or 6 ‘‘(2) information on the consumer included in 7 the database established under section 630.’’. 8 SEC. 7. BUREAU REGULATIONS OR GUIDANCE. 9 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment 10 of this Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 11 shall issue rules or guidance, as appropriate, to carry out 12 the requirements of this Act. 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4328.RH H4328 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4328.RH H4328 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 520 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4328 [Report No. 116–635] A BILL To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to protect certain consumers affected by a shutdown, and for other purposes. DECEMBER 8, 2020 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H4328.RH H4328 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS