[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4983 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4983

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer 
    credit checks against prospective and current employees for the 
            purposes of making adverse employment decisions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2023

 Mr. Cohen (for himself, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Adams, Mr. Mullin, 
   Ms. Norton, Ms. Omar, Ms. Schakowsky, and Ms. Lee of California) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer 
    credit checks against prospective and current employees for the 
            purposes of making adverse employment decisions.

    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 ``Equal Employment for All Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. USE OF CREDIT CHECKS PROHIBITED FOR EMPLOYMENT PURPOSES.

    (a) Prohibition for Employment and Adverse Action.--Section 604 of 
the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by inserting ``within the 
        restrictions set forth in subsection (b)'' after ``purposes'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (b) through (g) as 
        subsections (c) through (h), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(b) Use of Certain Consumer Report Prohibited for Employment 
Purposes or Adverse Action.--
            ``(1) General prohibition.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (3), a person, including a prospective employer or current 
        employer, may not use a consumer report or investigative 
        consumer report, or cause a consumer report or investigative 
        consumer report to be procured, with respect to any consumer 
        where any information contained in the report bears on the 
        creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity of the 
        consumer--
                    ``(A) for employment purposes; or
                    ``(B) for making an adverse action, as described in 
                section 603(k)(1)(B)(ii).
            ``(2) Source of consumer report irrelevant.--The 
        prohibition described in paragraph (1) shall apply even if the 
        consumer consents or otherwise authorizes the procurement or 
        use of a consumer report for employment purposes or in 
        connection with an adverse action with respect to the consumer.
            ``(3) Exceptions.--Notwithstanding the prohibitions set 
        forth in this subsection, and consistent with the other 
        sections of this Act, an employer may use a consumer report 
        with respect to a consumer in the following situations:
                    ``(A) When the consumer applies for, or currently 
                holds, employment that requires national security 
                clearance.
                    ``(B) When otherwise required by law.
            ``(4) Effect on disclosure and notification requirements.--
        The exceptions described in paragraph (3) shall have no effect 
        upon the other requirements of this Act, including requirements 
        in regards to disclosure and notification to a consumer when 
        permissibly using a consumer report for employment purposes or 
        for making an adverse action against the consumer.''; and
            (4) in subsection (c), as so redesignated--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by amending the paragraph heading to 
                        read as follows: ``Use of Consumer Reports for 
                        Employment Purposes'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (A), by redesignating 
                        clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) and 
                        (II), respectively, and by moving such 
                        subclauses two ems to the right;
                            (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 
                        and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, 
                        and by moving such clauses two ems to the 
                        right;
                            (iv) by striking the period at the end of 
                        clause (ii) (as so redesignated) and inserting 
                        ``; and'';
                            (v) by striking ``agency may furnish'' and 
                        inserting ``agency--
            ``(A) may furnish''; and
                            (vi) by adding at the end the following new 
                        subparagraph:
                    ``(B) except as provided in paragraph (5), may not 
                furnish a consumer report with respect to any consumer 
                in which any information contained in the report bears 
                on the consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, or 
                credit capacity to an employer if the employer seeks to 
                use such information in a denial of employment or any 
                other decision made for employment purposes.''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(5) Requirements for consumer reports bearing on the 
        consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit 
        capacity.--
                    ``(A) Exceptions.--An employer may use a consumer 
                report with respect to any consumer in which any 
                information contained in the report bears on the 
                consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit 
                capacity in a decision made for employment purposes or 
                before taking an adverse action for employment purposes 
                only if the consumer authorizes the procurement of the 
                report as described in paragraph (2)(A)(ii) and--
                            ``(i) the consumer applies for, or 
                        currently holds, employment that requires the 
                        consumer to be eligible for access to 
                        classified information; or
                            ``(ii) when otherwise required by law.
                    ``(B) Limitation.--A person who seeks to obtain or 
                use a consumer report with respect to any consumer in 
                which any information contained in the report bears on 
                the consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, or 
                credit capacity may not deny employment to the consumer 
                or make any other decision for employment purposes with 
                respect to the consumer because the consumer has not 
                authorized the procurement of the report as described 
                in paragraph (2)(A)(ii).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments and Cross References.--The Fair Credit 
Reporting Act is further amended as follows:
            (1) In section 603 (15 U.S.C. 1681a)--
                    (A) in subsection (d)(3), by striking ``604(g)(3)'' 
                and inserting ``604(h)(3)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (o), by striking ``A 
                communication'' and inserting ``Subject to the 
                restrictions set forth in subsection 604(b), a 
                communication''.
            (2) In section 604 (15 U.S.C. 1681b)--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``subsection 
                (c)'' and inserting ``subsection (d)'';
                    (B) in subsection (c), as redesignated by 
                subsection (a)(2) of this section--
                            (i) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ``and 
                        subject to the restrictions set forth in 
                        subsection (b)'' after ``subparagraph (B)''; 
                        and
                            (ii) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting 
                        ``and subject to the restrictions set forth in 
                        subsection (b)'' after ``subparagraph (B)'';
                    (C) in subsection (d)(1), as redesignated by 
                subsection (a)(2) of this section, by striking 
                ``subsection (e)'' in both places that term appears and 
                inserting ``subsection (f)''; and
                    (D) in subsection (f), as redesignated by 
                subsection (a)(2) of this section--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 
                        ``subsection (c)(1)(B)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (d)(1)(B)''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (5), by striking 
                        ``subsection (c)(1)(B)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (d)(1)(B)''.
            (3) In section 607(e)(3)(A) (15 U.S.C. 1681e(e)(3)(A)), by 
        striking ``604(b)(4)(E)(i)'' and inserting ``604(c)(4)(E)(i)''.
            (4) In section 609 (15 U.S.C. 1681g)--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(3)(C)(i), by striking 
                ``604(b)(4)(E)(i)'' and inserting ``604(c)(4)(E)(i)''; 
                and
                    (B) in subsection (a)(3)(C)(ii), by striking 
                ``604(b)(4)(A)'' and inserting ``604(c)(4)(A)''.
            (5) In section 613(b) (15 U.S.C. 1681k(b)) by striking 
        section ``604(b)(4)(A)'' and inserting ``section 
        604(c)(4)(A)''.
            (6) In section 615 (15 U.S.C. 1681m)--
                    (A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``section 
                604(c)(1)(B)'' and inserting ``section 604(d)(1)(B)'';
                    (B) in subsection (d)(1)(E), by striking ``section 
                604(e)'' and inserting ``section 604(f)''; and
                    (C) in subsection (d)(2)(A), by striking ``section 
                604(e)'' and inserting ``section 604(f)''.
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