[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 535 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 535
To enable Federal employees and contractors to correct their credit
reports to remove adverse items of information reported as a result of
a shutdown, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 14, 2019
Mr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. Warner, and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To enable Federal employees and contractors to correct their credit
reports to remove adverse items of information reported as a result of
a shutdown, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protect Federal Workers' Credit
Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(bb) Contractor.--The term `contractor' has the meaning given the
term in section 7101 of title 41, United States Code.
``(cc) Covered Period.--The term `covered period' means--
``(1) the period beginning on the date on which a shutdown
begins and ending on the date that is 30 days after the date on
which the shutdown ends; and
``(2) with respect to the shutdown that began on December
21, 2018, and ended on January 25, 2019, the 60-day period
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.
``(dd) Federal Worker.--The term `Federal worker'--
``(1) means an employee of a Government agency that had a
lapse in appropriations as a result of a shutdown; and
``(2) includes an employee of a contractor that has a
contract with a Government agency that had a lapse in
appropriations as a result of a shutdown.
``(ee) Shutdown.--The term `shutdown' means any period in which
there is more than a 24-hour lapse in appropriations for any Government
agency or Federal department as a result of a failure to enact a
regular appropriations bill or continuing resolution that results in a
delay or loss of payment or wages to a Federal worker.
``(ff) Small Business Concern.--The term `small business concern'
has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Small Business Act
(15 U.S.C. 632).''.
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON FURNISHING AN ADVERSE ITEM OF INFORMATION
RESULTING FROM THE SHUTDOWN.
Section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681s-2) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Limitation on Furnishing Adverse Information Resulting From a
Shutdown.--A person shall not furnish any adverse item of information
relating to a consumer during a covered period to any consumer
reporting agency if the person has been notified by the consumer that--
``(1) the ability of the consumer to make an on-time
payment during the covered period has been materially affected
by a shutdown; or
``(2) the late or missed payment by the consumer during the
covered period was a result of a shutdown.''.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING AN ADVERSE ITEM OF INFORMATION IN
CONSUMER REPORTS.
Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C.
1681c(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(9) An adverse item of information reported to the
consumer reporting agency relating to a consumer during a
covered period if--
``(A) the consumer is a Federal worker listed in
the database described in section 611(h)(2); or
``(B) the consumer has successfully requested the
removal of an adverse item of information contained in
the consumer's file pursuant to the process described
in section 611(h)(4).''.
SEC. 5. PROCESS FOR DELETING NEGATIVE INFORMATION FROM CONSUMER
REPORTS.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) is amended--
(1) in section 609(c)(1)(B) (15 U.S.C. 1681g(c)(1)(B))--
(A) in clause (v), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in clause (vi), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(vi) the right of a consumer to--
``(I) request the deletion of
adverse items of information under
section 611(h)(4); and
``(II) request 2 consumer reports,
without charge to the consumer, under
section 611(h)(5).''; and
(2) in section 611 (15 U.S.C. 1681i)--
(A) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by inserting ``and
subsection (h)'' before ``, if the completeness''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(h) Deletion of Adverse Items of Information Resulting From a
Shutdown.--
``(1) Requirement to provide list of impacted federal
workers.--
``(A) Recent shutdown.--Not later than 30 days
after the date of enactment of this subsection--
``(i) each Government agency for which
there was a lapse in appropriations during the
shutdown that ended on January 25, 2019, shall
provide to the Bureau a list of each Federal
worker who was furloughed or required to work
without pay for any period of time during a
shutdown; and
``(ii) each Federal contractor impacted by
the shutdown that ended on January 25, 2019,
shall provide to the Bureau a list of each
employee whose pay was reduced or delayed as a
result of a shutdown.
``(B) Subsequent shutdowns.--With respect to a
shutdown beginning after January 25, 2019, not later
than 3 days after the date on which the shutdown ends--
``(i) each Government agency for which
there was a lapse in appropriations shall
provide to the Bureau a list of each Federal
worker who was furloughed or required to work
without pay for any period of time during the
shutdown; and
``(ii) each Federal contractor impacted by
the shutdown shall provide to the Bureau a list
of each employee whose pay was reduced or
delayed as a result of the shutdown.
``(2) Database.--The Bureau shall establish and maintain a
secure database that--
``(A) is accessible to consumer reporting agencies
described in section 603(p) and nationwide specialty
consumer reporting agencies to check and automatically
delete any adverse item of information reported during
a covered period with respect to a Federal worker under
paragraph (3); and
``(B) contains the information reported under
paragraph (1).
``(3) Deletion of adverse items of information by
nationwide consumer reporting and nationwide specialty consumer
reporting agencies.--
``(A) In general.--Each consumer reporting agency
described in section 603(p) and each nationwide
specialty consumer reporting agency shall, using the
information contained in the database established under
paragraph (2), delete from the file of each Federal
worker named in the database each adverse item of
information reported to the agency during the covered
period.
``(B) Timeline.--Each agency described in
subparagraph (A) shall--
``(i) delete adverse items of information
as soon as practicable after information that
is reported under paragraph (1) appears in the
database established under paragraph (2); and
``(ii) not later than the date that is 3
days after the end of a covered period, delete
any remaining adverse items of information that
were reported between the date on which adverse
items of information were deleted under clause
(i) and the end of the covered period.
``(4) Request for deletion of adverse items of
information.--
``(A) In general.--A consumer who is an employee or
owner of a small business concern and who was
materially affected by a shutdown may submit a request,
without charge to the consumer, to a consumer reporting
agency to delete from the consumer's file an adverse
item of information reported to the consumer reporting
agency during the covered period.
``(B) Timing.--A consumer may submit a request
under subparagraph (A)--
``(i) with respect to the shutdown that
ended on January 25, 2019, not later than 90
days after the date of enactment of this
subsection; and
``(ii) with respect to a shutdown beginning
after January 25, 2019, not later than 90 days
after the date on which the shutdown ends.
``(C) Removal and notification.--Upon receiving a
request under this paragraph to delete an adverse item
of information, a consumer reporting agency shall--
``(i) delete the adverse item of
information from the consumer's file if the
consumer provides documentation to the consumer
reporting agency that the consumer is--
``(I) a Federal worker whose pay
was delayed or reduced during the
covered period; or
``(II) an employee or owner of a
small business concern who was
materially affected by a shutdown; and
``(ii) notify the consumer and the
furnisher of the adverse item of information of
the deletion.
``(5) Free credit reports.--
``(A) In general.--A consumer reporting agency
shall make all disclosures pursuant to section 609
twice during the 12-month period following the end of a
shutdown upon request by a consumer impacted by the
shutdown and without charge to the consumer--
``(i) with respect to the shutdown that
ended on January 25, 2019, if the consumer
makes a request within 180 days after the date
of enactment of this subsection; and
``(ii) with respect to a shutdown beginning
after January 25, 2019, if the consumer makes a
request within 180 days after the date on which
the shutdown ends.
``(B) Timing.--A consumer reporting agency shall
provide a consumer report under subparagraph (A) not
later than 15 days after the date on which the request
is received under subparagraph (A).
``(C) Additional reports.--A consumer report
provided under subparagraph (A) shall be in addition to
any report requested by the consumer under section
612(a).
``(D) Prohibition.--A consumer reporting agency
that receives a request under subparagraph (A) may not
request or require any documentation from the consumer
that demonstrates that the consumer was impacted by a
shutdown as a condition of receiving the consumer
report.
``(6) Posting of rights.--Not later than 30 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, and immediately after the
beginning of a shutdown, each consumer reporting agency shall
prominently post and maintain a direct link on the homepage of
the public website of the consumer reporting agency information
relating to the right of consumers to--
``(A) request the deletion of adverse items of
information under paragraph (4); and
``(B) request 2 consumer reports, without charge to
the consumer, under paragraph (5).''.
<all>
Protect Federal Workers' Credit Act
#535 | S Congress #116
Policy Area: Finance and Financial Sector
Last Action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (2/14/2019)
Bill Text Source: Congress.gov
Summary and Impacts
Original Text