[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9272 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9272
To establish an award allocation to facilitate financial literacy
programs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 3, 2022
Mr. David Scott of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Loudermilk, Ms. Dean, Mr.
Hill, and Mrs. Beatty) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish an award allocation to facilitate financial literacy
programs, 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 ``Consumer Financial Education and
Empowerment Act''.
SEC. 2. FINANCIAL LITERACY AWARD ALLOCATION PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12
U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 1037 the
following:
``SEC. 1038. FINANCIAL LITERACY AWARD ALLOCATION PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Director shall establish award
allocations for financial literacy and consumer education programs on a
competitive basis to eligible entities as described in subsection (d).
``(b) Application Requirements.--To be eligible for an award
allocation under the program established under subsection (a), an
eligible entity shall submit an application to the Director at such
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director
may require, including information on--
``(1) the curriculum and design of the financial literacy
program proposed by the eligible entity, including a
description of how such program meets the requirements of
subsection (d);
``(2) expected participants in the proposed program;
``(3) who is expected to be employed or otherwise involved
with the proposed program, including--
``(A) administrators;
``(B) consultants; and
``(C) financial advisors; and
``(4) a prospective budget for the proposed financial
literacy program.
``(c) Award Allocation.--
``(1) Amounts.--The Director shall determine the amount of
each award allocation under the program established under
subsection (a).
``(2) Multiyear award allocations.--The Director may not
award more than 5 consecutive award allocations to an eligible
entity based on a single application.
``(d) Financial Literacy Program Described.--A financial literacy
program described in this subsection is a program that provides the
following:
``(1) Instruction to participants, including individuals
who provide instruction with respect to financial literacy
education, on one or more of the following:
``(A) Personal financial wellness.
``(B) Credit and alternatives to credit.
``(C) Management of student loan debt.
``(D) Preparation for homeownership.
``(E) Basic investing.
``(F) Financial saving, planning, and management.
``(G) Tax planning.
``(H) Personal information security.
``(I) Preparation for household changes, including
merging assets after marriage and preparing for costs
associated with children.
``(J) Other topics as determined by the Director.
``(2) An in-person instruction component that--
``(A) may be provided as a webinar, an in-classroom
experience, or one-on-one financial coaching;
``(B) includes--
``(i) live, real-time instruction; and
``(ii) an opportunity for students to
engage with an instructor; and
``(C) is not primarily comprised of self-taught
instruction.
``(e) Funding.--
``(1) In general.--The Director shall, in accordance with
section 1017(d), use amounts in the Consumer Financial Civil
Penalty Fund to carry out this section.
``(2) Amounts.--To carry out this section, the Director
shall use not more than--
``(A) in fiscal year 2026, $30,000,000;
``(B) in each allocation period starting after
fiscal year 2026, the lessor of--
``(i) $15,000,000; or
``(ii) 20 percent of the amount remaining
in the Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund
after allocation to victims has been determined
for the prior allocation period; and
``(C) in any allocation period with respect to
which the amount in the Consumer Financial Civil
Penalty Fund decreased during the prior allocation
period, 1 percent of the amount remaining in the
Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund after allocation
to victims has been determined for the prior allocation
period.
``(f) Initial Study.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this section, the Director shall conduct a study
on the financial literacy education needs of expected
participants of the financial literacy programs facilitated by
this section.
``(2) Findings.--The findings of the study required under
paragraph (1) may be used to inform the award allocations by
the program established under subsection (a).
``(g) Financial Literacy and Education Commission Report.--Not
later than 2 years after the Director establishes the program under
subsection (a), the Financial Literacy and Education Commission shall
submit to Congress and the Director a report that provides
recommendations on improving the program.
``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Allocation period.--The term `allocation period'
means the biannual allocation period of funds to a class of
victims that occurs according to the schedule established
pursuant to section 1075.105(b) of title 12, Code of Federal
Regulations (or any successor regulation).
``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity'--
``(A) means--
``(i) a State government, local government,
or agency of a State or local government; and
``(ii) other entities that the Director may
identify, including those that have--
``(I) experience with financial
management;
``(II) a history of achieving goals
and objectives of financial literacy
programs;
``(III) expertise in financial
education; or
``(IV) expertise in providing
financial education instruction; and
``(B) does not include any entity if the entity, or
a subsidiary or affiliate of the entity, has been found
to have violated any Federal consumer financial law.
``(3) State.--The term `State' means each State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, each territory or
possession of the United States, and each federally recognized
Indian Tribe.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5497(d)(2)) is amended--
(1) in the table of contents, by inserting after the item
relating to section 1037 the following:
``Sec. 1038. Financial literacy award allocation program.'';
and
(2) in section 1017(d)(2)--
(A) by striking ``, the Bureau may use'' and
inserting ``, the Bureau--
``(A) may use'';
(B) by striking ``programs.'' and inserting
``programs; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) shall use such funds for the award allocation
program established under section 1038.''.
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