[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7882 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7882

To amend section 1124 of title 31, United States Code, to establish an 
Agency Equity Advisory Team, to amend sections 3520 and 3520A of title 
  44, United States Code, to ensure the use of equity, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 5, 2024

   Mr. Raskin (for himself, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Bush, Mr. Carson, Ms. 
   Jackson Lee, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Ms. 
 Norton, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Lynch, 
Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Mr. Espaillat, and Ms. Brown) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                      Oversight and Accountability

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend section 1124 of title 31, United States Code, to establish an 
Agency Equity Advisory Team, to amend sections 3520 and 3520A of title 
  44, United States Code, to ensure the use of equity, 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 ``Federal Government Equity 
Improvement Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OFFICERS.

    Section 1124 of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by inserting at the end the following:
                    ``(G) establish and serve as the head of an Agency 
                Equity Advisory Team, with at least 10 members, that 
                includes representation from at least 10 of the 
                following:
                            ``(i) The head of the agency.
                            ``(ii) Regulatory affairs senior designee.
                            ``(iii) Counsel.
                            ``(iv) Civil rights enforcement senior 
                        designee.
                            ``(v) Policy development senior designee.
                            ``(vi) Chief Financial Officer, Controller, 
                        or senior designee.
                            ``(vii) Chief Data Officer or senior 
                        designee.
                            ``(viii) Chief Science Officer or senior 
                        designee.
                            ``(ix) Chief Human Capital Officer or 
                        senior designee.
                            ``(x) Evaluation Officer or senior 
                        designee.
                            ``(xi) Statistical official.
                            ``(xii) Procurement senior designee.
                            ``(xiii) Customer or user experience 
                        leadership.
                            ``(xiv) Communications or public affairs 
                        senior designee.
                            ``(xv) Public engagement senior 
                        designee.''; and
            (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following 
        new paragraph:
            ``(4) Equity subcommittee.--
                    ``(A) Establishment.--There is established an 
                Equity Subcommittee of the Performance Improvement 
                Council, consisting of members of that Council, to be 
                selected by the Council.
                    ``(B) Functions.--The Equity Subcommittee of the 
                Performance Improvement Council shall--
                            ``(i) assist the Director of the Office of 
                        Management and Budget in identifying guidance 
                        agencies need on how to provide services more 
                        equitably and developing such guidance;
                            ``(ii) facilitate the sharing of 
                        information across agencies regarding practices 
                        that have led to the more equitable provision 
                        of services;
                            ``(iii) coordinate with the Equitable Data 
                        Working Group of the Chief Data Officer Council 
                        (established pursuant to section 3520A of title 
                        44) to ensure that agencies share best 
                        practices related to the equitable collection 
                        and use of data; and
                            ``(iv) solicit input from nongovernmental 
                        organizations, State and local governments, and 
                        recipients of government services to determine 
                        best practices for providing government 
                        services equitably.''.

SEC. 3. CHIEF DATA OFFICERS.

    Title 44, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 3520(c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (13), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (14) by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by inserting at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(15) ensure the agency applies the recommendations of the 
        Chief Data Officer Council developed pursuant to paragraphs (1) 
        through (5) of section 3520A(b).''; and
            (2) in section 3520A--
                    (A) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ``the 
                        use'' and inserting ``the equitable use'';
                            (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 
                        ``between agencies'' and inserting ``between 
                        agencies, academic and research partners, State 
                        and local governments, community and advocacy 
                        groups, and other stakeholders'';
                            (iii) in paragraph (3), by striking 
                        ``policymaking'' and inserting ``equitable 
                        policymaking'';
                            (iv) in paragraph (4), by striking 
                        ``access'' and inserting ``equitable access''; 
                        and
                            (v) in paragraph (5), by striking 
                        ``collection'' and inserting ``equitable 
                        collection'';
                    (B) in subsection (d), by striking ``the Council.'' 
                and inserting ``the Council, including the work of the 
                Equitable Data Working Group.'';
                    (C) by amending subsection (e) to read as follows:
    ``(e) Evaluation and Termination.--
            ``(1) GAO evaluation of council.--Not later than 4 years 
        after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the 
        Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on 
        whether the additional duties of the Council, including the 
        Equitable Data Working Group, improved the equitable collection 
        and use of evidence, including for program evaluation, in the 
        Federal Government.
            ``(2) Termination of council.--The Council, including the 
        Equitable Data Working Group, shall not terminate until at 
        least two years after the date on which the Comptroller General 
        submits the report under paragraph (1) to Congress.''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following new 
                subsections:
    ``(f) Equitable Data Working Group.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--There is established within the 
        Council an Equitable Data Working Group.
            ``(2) Purpose and functions.--The Equitable Data Working 
        Group shall ensure that the Council prioritizes equity when 
        carrying out the functions of the Council described in 
        paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (b).
            ``(3) Meetings; reports.--Not less frequently than once per 
        quarter, the Equitable Data Working Group shall meet submit to 
        the Chief Data Officer Council a written report with 
        recommendations on how to execute the functions described in 
        paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (b) to better achieve 
        equitable methods and outcomes.
            ``(4) Membership.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Council shall select a 
                subset of the members of the Council to serve as 
                members of the Equitable Data Working Group.
                    ``(B) Chair.--The Chair of the Council shall select 
                the Chair of the Equitable Data Working Group from 
                among the members of the Equitable Data Working Group.
    ``(g) State Defined.--In this section and section 1124 of title 31, 
the term `State' means each State of the United States, the District of 
Columbia, each commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 
States, and each federally recognized Indian Tribe.''.
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