Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7946 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 4, 2020 Ms. WATERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 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 SEC. 2. DUTY TO MINIMIZE AND ELIMINATE RACIAL DIS- 6 PARITIES. 7 The Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 221 et seq.) is 8 amended by inserting after section 2B the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7946.IH H7946 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7946 IH ‘‘SEC. 2C. DUTY TO MINIMIZE AND ELIMINATE RACIAL DIS- 1 PARITIES. 2 ‘‘The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys- 3 tem and the Federal Open Market Committee shall exer- 4 cise all duties and functions in a manner that fosters the 5 elimination of disparities across racial and ethnic groups 6 with respect to employment, income, wealth, and access 7 to affordable credit, including actions in carrying out— 8 ‘‘(1) monetary policy; 9 ‘‘(2) regulation and supervision of banks, 10 thrifts, bank holding companies, savings and loan 11 holding companies, and nonbank financial companies 12 and systemically important financial market utilities 13 designated by the Financial Stability Oversight 14 Council; 15 ‘‘(3) operation of payment systems; 16 ‘‘(4) implementation of the Community Rein- 17 vestment Act of 1977; 18 ‘‘(5) enforcement of fair lending laws; and 19 ‘‘(6) community development functions.’’. 20 SEC. 3. APPEARANCES BEFORE AND REPORTS TO THE CON- 21 GRESS. 22 Section 2B of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 23 225b) is amended— 24 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7946.IH H7946 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7946 IH (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 1 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 2 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in- 3 serting the following: 4 ‘‘(B) economic developments and prospects 5 for the future described in the report required 6 in subsection (b), including a discussion of dis- 7 parities in employment, income, and wealth 8 across racial and ethnic groups as well as other 9 specific segments of the population; and 10 ‘‘(C) plans, activities, and actions of the 11 Board and the Federal Open Market Committee 12 to minimize and eliminate racial disparities in 13 employment, wages, wealth, and access to af- 14 fordable credit pursuant to section 2C.’’; and 15 (2) in subsection (b)— 16 (A) by striking ‘‘The Board’’ and inserting 17 the following: 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board’’; and 19 (B) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(2) TREND INFORMATION.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each report required 22 under paragraph (1) shall include recent trends 23 in the unemployment rate, labor force participa- 24 tion rate, employment to population ratio, me- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7946.IH H7946 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7946 IH dian household income, and change in real 1 earnings. 2 ‘‘(B) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION.—The 3 trends required to be reported under subpara- 4 graph (A) shall include a comparison among 5 different demographic groups, including race 6 (White, African-American, Latino, Native 7 American, and Asian populations), ethnicity, 8 gender, and educational attainment.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7946.IH H7946 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS