[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 130 (Thursday, July 23, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4488-S4489]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PROTECTING 2020 RECOVERY REBATES FOR INDIVIDUALS FROM ASSIGNMENT OR 
                              GARNISHMENT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of S. 
3841 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further 
ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that 
the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table; 
further, that the bill be held at the desk, and should the Senate 
receive from the House of Representatives a bill, the text of which is 
identical to that of S. 3841, the Senate proceed to its immediate 
consideration, the bill be considered read a third time and passed, the 
motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no 
intervening action or debate, and S. 3841 be indefinitely postponed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 3841) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                S. 3841

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

[[Page S4489]]

  


     SECTION 1. PROTECTION OF 2020 RECOVERY REBATES.

       (a) In General.--Subsection (d) of section 2201 of the 
     CARES Act (Public Law 116-136) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as 
     subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), and by moving such 
     subparagraphs 2 ems to the right,
       (2) by striking ``Reduction or Offset.--Any credit'' and 
     inserting ``Reduction, Offset, Garnishment, etc.--
       ``(1) In general.--Any credit'', and
       (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
       ``(2) Assignment of benefits.--
       ``(A) In general.--The right of any person to any 
     applicable payment shall not be transferable or assignable, 
     at law or in equity, and no applicable payment shall be 
     subject to, execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or 
     other legal process, or the operation of any bankruptcy or 
     insolvency law.
       ``(B) Encoding of payments.--As soon as practicable, but 
     not earlier than 10 days after the date of the enactment of 
     this paragraph, in the case of an applicable payment that is 
     paid electronically by direct deposit through the Automated 
     Clearing House (ACH) network, the Secretary of the Treasury 
     (or the Secretary's delegate) shall--
       ``(i) issue the payment using a unique identifier that is 
     reasonably sufficient to allow a financial institution to 
     identify the payment as an applicable payment, and
       ``(ii) further encode the payment pursuant to the same 
     specifications as required for a benefit payment defined in 
     section 212.3 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations.
       ``(C) Garnishment.--
       ``(i) Encoded payments.--In the case of a garnishment order 
     received after the date that is 10 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this paragraph and that applies to an account 
     that has received an applicable payment that is encoded as 
     provided in subparagraph (B), a financial institution shall 
     follow the requirements and procedures set forth in part 212 
     of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, except a financial 
     institution shall not, with regard to any applicable payment, 
     be required to provide the notice referenced in sections 
     212.6 and 212.7 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations. 
     This paragraph shall not alter the status of applicable 
     payments as tax refunds or other nonbenefit payments for 
     purpose of any reclamation rights of the Department of 
     Treasury or the Internal Revenue Service as per part 210 of 
     title 31 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
       ``(ii) Other payments.--If a financial institution receives 
     a garnishment order, other than an order that has been served 
     by the United States or an order that has been served by a 
     Federal, State, or local child support enforcement agency, 
     that has been received by a financial institution after the 
     date that is 10 days after the date of the enactment of this 
     paragraph and that applies to an account into which an 
     applicable payment that has not been encoded as provided in 
     subparagraph (B) has been deposited electronically or by an 
     applicable payment that has been deposited by check on any 
     date in the lookback period, the financial institution, upon 
     the request of the account holder, shall treat the amount of 
     the funds in the account at the time of the request, up to 
     the amount of the applicable payment (in addition to any 
     amounts otherwise protected under part 212 of title 31, Code 
     of Federal Regulations), as exempt from a garnishment order 
     without requiring the consent of the party serving the 
     garnishment order or the judgment creditor.
       ``(iii) Liability.--A financial institution that acts in 
     good faith in reliance on clauses (i) or (ii) shall not be 
     subject to liability or regulatory action under any Federal 
     or State law, regulation, court or other order, or regulatory 
     interpretation for actions concerning any applicable 
     payments.
       ``(D) Definitions.--For purposes of this paragraph--
       ``(i) Account holder.--The term `account holder' means a 
     natural person whose name appears in a financial 
     institution's records as the direct or beneficial owner of an 
     account.
       ``(ii) Account review.--The term `account review' means the 
     process of examining deposits in an account to determine if 
     an applicable payment has been deposited into the account 
     during the lookback period. The financial institution shall 
     perform the account review following the procedures outlined 
     in section 212.5 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations and 
     in accordance with the requirements of section 212.6 of title 
     31, Code of Federal Regulations.
       ``(iii) Applicable payment.--The term `applicable payment' 
     means any payment of credit or refund by reason of section 
     6428 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as so added) or by 
     reason of subsection (c) of this section.
       ``(iv) Garnishment.--The term `garnishment' means 
     execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal 
     process.
       ``(v) Garnishment order.--The term `garnishment order' 
     means a writ, order, notice, summons, judgment, levy, or 
     similar written instruction issued by a court, a State or 
     State agency, a municipality or municipal corporation, or a 
     State child support enforcement agency, including a lien 
     arising by operation of law for overdue child support or an 
     order to freeze the assets in an account, to effect a 
     garnishment against a debtor.
       ``(vi) Lookback period.--The term `lookback period' means 
     the two month period that begins on the date preceding the 
     date of account review and ends on the corresponding date of 
     the month two months earlier, or on the last date of the 
     month two months earlier if the corresponding date does not 
     exist.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

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