[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 131 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 131

    To specifically exclude certain programs from provisions of the 
                     Electronic Funds Transfer Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 4, 1995

 Mr. Lieberman introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To specifically exclude certain programs from provisions of the 
                     Electronic Funds Transfer Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFERS.

    Section 904(d) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 
1693b(d)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``(d)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(2)(A) The disclosures, protections, responsibilities, and 
remedies created by this title or any rules, regulations, or orders 
issued by the Board in accordance with this title, do not apply to an 
electronic benefit transfer program established under State or local 
law, or administered by a State or local government, unless the payment 
under such program is made directly into a consumer's account held by 
the recipient.
    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to employment related 
payments, including salaries, pension, retirement, or unemployment 
benefits established by Federal, State, or local governments.
    ``(C) Nothing in subparagraph (A) alters the protections of 
benefits established by any Federal, State, or local law, or preempts 
the application of any State or local law.
    ``(D) For purposes of subparagraph (A), an electronic benefit 
transfer program is a program under which a Federal, State, or local 
government agency distributes needs-tested benefits by establishing 
accounts to be accessed by recipients electronically, such as through 
automated teller machines, or point-of-sale terminals. A program 
established for the purpose of enforcing the support obligations owed 
by absent parents to their children and the custodial parents with whom 
the children are living is not an electronic benefit transfer 
program.''.
                                 <all>