Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4464 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 AUGUST 6, 2020 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. REED) 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 21:55 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4464.IS S4464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4464 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 21:55 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4464.IS S4464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4464 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 racial disparities in 18 employment, wages, wealth, and access to af- 19 fordable credit pursuant to section 2C.’’; and 20 (2) in subsection (b)— 21 (A) by striking ‘‘The Board’’ and inserting 22 the following: 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board’’; and 24 (B) by adding at the end the following: 25 ‘‘(2) TREND INFORMATION.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4464.IS S4464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4464 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each report required 1 under paragraph (1) shall include recent trends 2 in the unemployment rate, labor force participa- 3 tion rate, employment to population ratio, me- 4 dian household income, and change in real 5 earnings. 6 ‘‘(B) DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION.—The 7 trends required to be reported under subpara- 8 graph (A) shall include a comparison among 9 different demographic groups, including race 10 (White, African-American, Latino, Native 11 American, and Asian populations), ethnicity, 12 gender, and educational attainment.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4464.IS S4464 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS