Multilingual Financial Literacy Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2835 To require the Financial Literacy and Education Commission to carry out a study on the impact of language barriers to financial health, to require the website and toll-free telephone number of the Commission to be provided in the most commonly spoken languages in the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 25, 2023 Ms. GARCIA of Texas (for herself, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. NICKEL, Mr. GREEN of Texas, and Mr. VARGAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Financial Literacy and Education Commission to carry out a study on the impact of language barriers to financial health, to require the website and toll-free telephone number of the Commission to be provided in the most commonly spoken languages in the United States, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2835.IH H2835 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2835 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Multilingual Financial 2 Literacy Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF LANGUAGE BARRIERS 4 TO FINANCIAL HEALTH. 5 (a) STUDY.—The Financial Literacy and Education 6 Commission shall carry out a study on the impact of lan- 7 guage barriers to financial health, including access to fi- 8 nancial literacy education and training, credit score out- 9 comes, the cost of credit, and homebuying across groups 10 with limited English proficiency. 11 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the study re- 12 quired under subsection (a), the Financial Literacy and 13 Education Commission shall consult with every agency 14 represented on the Commission. 15 (c) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 6-month 16 period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the 17 Financial Literacy and Education Commission shall issue 18 a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the 19 House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 20 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate— 21 (1) containing all findings and determinations 22 made in carrying out the study required under sub- 23 section (a); and 24 (2) analyzing the need for language accessibility 25 across the financial services industry, including an 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2835.IH H2835 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2835 IH identification of any industries in which information 1 is provided solely in one language, highlighting any 2 products, services, or other financial offerings with 3 information which is limited in their availability be- 4 yond English. 5 SEC. 3. LANGUAGE ACCESS TO COMMISSION WEBSITE AND 6 TOLL-FREE TELEPHONE NUMBER. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 514 of the Financial Lit- 8 eracy and Education Improvement Act (20 U.S.C. 9703) 9 is amended— 10 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 11 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking 12 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 13 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 14 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(F) be provided in at least 8 of the most 17 commonly spoken languages in the United 18 States, as determined by the Bureau of the 19 Census.’’; and 20 (D) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION ON LANGUAGE RESOURCES 22 FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The website established 23 under paragraph (1) shall contain a separate website 24 that provides— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2835.IH H2835 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2835 IH ‘‘(A) information on which Federal agen- 1 cies provide financial literacy and education re- 2 sources in languages other than English, includ- 3 ing which resources are available in which lan- 4 guages; and 5 ‘‘(B) guidance on where individuals can 6 find Federal agency resources in a particular 7 language for various topic areas. 8 ‘‘(4) TRANSLATION SERVICES PROVIDED BY 9 THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY.—The Sec- 10 retary of the Treasury shall provide the translation 11 services necessary to comply with the language re- 12 quirement under paragraph (2)(F).’’; 13 (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 14 following: ‘‘The toll-free telephone number shall pro- 15 vide verbal assistance to members of the public in 16 each of the 8 most commonly spoken languages in 17 the United States, as determined by the Bureau of 18 the Census. The Secretary of the Treasury shall pro- 19 vide the staff necessary to comply with such lan- 20 guage requirement.’’; and 21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(j) LANGUAGE ACCESS TO FEDERAL AGENCY IN- 23 FORMATION.—The Commission shall coordinate and pro- 24 mote efforts of Federal agencies to make all financial lit- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2835.IH H2835 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2835 IH eracy and education resources of Federal agencies avail- 1 able in each of the 8 most commonly spoken languages 2 in the United States, as determined by the Bureau of the 3 Census.’’. 4 (b) APPLICATION.—The provisions of law added by 5 this section shall apply after the end of the 1-year period 6 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act. 7 SEC. 4. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS. 8 Not later than the end of the 12-month period begin- 9 ning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Financial 10 Literacy and Education Commission shall issue a report 11 to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 12 Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 13 and Urban Affairs of the Senate containing— 14 (1) legislative and regulatory recommendations 15 on how to address barriers to financial inclusion 16 caused by language barriers, including financial lit- 17 eracy education and training and the role that 18 emerging technology and financial products play in 19 helping or harming communities with limited 20 English proficiency; 21 (2) a summary of— 22 (A) the actions taken by the Commission 23 to implement the amendments made by section 24 3; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2835.IH H2835 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2835 IH (B) any actions taken by individual Fed- 1 eral agencies that are members of the Commis- 2 sion to make financial literacy and education 3 resources of the agency available to the public 4 in each of the 8 most commonly spoken lan- 5 guages in the United States, as determined by 6 the Bureau of the Census; and 7 (3) an estimate of the cost needed— 8 (A) to implement the amendments made by 9 section 3; and 10 (B) for each Federal agency that is a 11 member of the Commission to make financial 12 literacy and education resources of the agency 13 available to the public in each of the 8 most 14 commonly spoken languages in the United 15 States, as determined by the Bureau of the 16 Census. 17 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT ON FINANCIAL LITERACY. 18 Section 514(h)(2) of the Financial Literacy and Edu- 19 cation Improvement Act (20 U.S.C. 9703(h)(2)) is amend- 20 ed— 21 (1) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 22 the end; 23 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub- 24 paragraph (O); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2835.IH H2835 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2835 IH (3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(J) a summary of the Commission’s ef- 3 forts over the previous year to increase financial 4 literacy across all member agencies of the Com- 5 mission; 6 ‘‘(K) an analysis of where there are finan- 7 cial literacy needs across different groups, in- 8 cluding information by age group, socio- 9 economic status, race, ethnicity, and language 10 preference; 11 ‘‘(L) an analysis of limited access to credit 12 and disparate credit scoring across different 13 groups, including information by age group, 14 gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic sta- 15 tus, race, ethnicity, and language preference; 16 ‘‘(M) an explanation of how a lack of fi- 17 nancial literacy, systemic barriers, and other 18 obstacles result in a wealth gap across different 19 groups, including information by age group, 20 gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic sta- 21 tus, race, ethnicity, and language preference; 22 ‘‘(N) proposals and potential policy solu- 23 tions for addressing barriers to financial lit- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2835.IH H2835 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2835 IH eracy, disparate credit scoring, and the wealth 1 gap; and’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:56 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2835.IH H2835 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS