[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2290 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2290

     To require the Federal financial regulators to issue guidance 
     encouraging financial institutions to work with consumers and 
  businesses affected by a Federal Government shutdown, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 10, 2019

  Ms. Wexton introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To require the Federal financial regulators to issue guidance 
     encouraging financial institutions to work with consumers and 
  businesses affected by a Federal Government 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 ``Shutdown Guidance for Financial 
Institutions Act''.

SEC. 2. SHUTDOWN GUIDANCE FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) Guidance.--Not later than the end of the 180-day period 
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal financial 
regulators shall, jointly, in consultation with State banking 
regulators and other appropriate Federal and State agencies, issue 
shutdown guidance to the financial institutions they regulate 
encouraging the financial institutions to--
            (1) work with consumers and businesses affected by a 
        shutdown;
            (2) recognize that consumers and businesses affected by a 
        shutdown may lose access to credit and face temporary hardship 
        in making payments on debts such as mortgages, student loans, 
        car loans, business loans, or credit cards;
            (3) consider prudent efforts to modify terms on existing 
        loans or extend new credit to help consumers and businesses 
        affected by a shutdown, consistent with safe-and-sound lending 
        practices; and
            (4) take steps to prevent adverse information being 
        reported and utilized in any manner that harms consumers 
        affected by a shutdown, including by preventing modified credit 
        arrangements intended to help consumers fulfill their financial 
        obligations from being reported to, and coded by, consumer 
        reporting agencies on a consumer's credit report in a manner 
        that hurts the creditworthiness of the consumer.
    (b) Notice of Guidance During a Shutdown.--Not later than the end 
of the 24-hour period beginning at the start of a shutdown, the Federal 
financial regulators shall, jointly, issue a press release to alert 
financial institutions, consumers, and businesses to the existence, and 
content, of the guidance issued pursuant to subsection (a).
    (c) Post-Shutdown Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than the end of the 90-day 
        period beginning on the date a shutdown ends, the Federal 
        financial regulators shall, jointly, issue a report to Congress 
        containing an analysis of the effectiveness of the guidance 
        issued pursuant to subsection (a) and what steps financial 
        institutions took to assist consumers and businesses affected 
        by a shutdown.
            (2) Updated guidance.--Not later than the end of the 180-
        day period beginning on the date a report is issued under 
        paragraph (1), the Federal financial regulators shall update 
        the guidance required under subsection (a) if any shortcomings 
        are identified in such report.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Consumers affected by a shutdown.--The term ``consumers 
        affected by a shutdown'' means an individual who is an employee 
        of--
                    (A) the Federal Government, and who is furloughed 
                or excepted from a furlough during the shutdown;
                    (B) the District of Columbia, and who is not 
                receiving pay because of the shutdown; or
                    (C) a Federal contractor (as defined under section 
                7101 of title 41, United States Code) or other 
                business, and who has experienced a substantial 
                reduction in pay due to the shutdown.
            (2) Consumers and businesses affected by a shutdown.--The 
        term ``consumers and businesses affected by a shutdown'' 
        means--
                    (A) a consumer affected by a shutdown; and
                    (B) a Federal contractor (as defined under section 
                7101 of title 41, United States Code) or other business 
                that has experienced a substantial reduction in income 
                due to the shutdown.
            (3) Federal financial regulators.--The term ``Federal 
        financial regulators'' means the Board of Governors of the 
        Federal Reserve System, the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
        Protection, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal 
        Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union 
        Administration.
            (4) Shutdown.--The term ``shutdown'' means any period in 
        which there is more than a 24-hour lapse in appropriations as a 
        result of a failure to enact a regular appropriations bill or 
        continuing resolution.
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