II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 535 

To enable Federal employees and contractors to correct their credit reports 

to remove adverse items of information reported as a result of a shutdown, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. WARNER, and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To enable Federal employees and contractors to correct their 

credit reports to remove adverse items of information 

reported as a result of a shutdown, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Federal Work5 ers’ Credit Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 1681a) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(bb) CONTRACTOR.—The term ‘contractor’ has the 

6 meaning given the term in section 7101 of title 41, United 

7 States Code. 

8 ‘‘(cc) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘covered period’ 

9 means— 

10 ‘‘(1) the period beginning on the date on which 

11 a shutdown begins and ending on the date that is 

12 30 days after the date on which the shutdown ends; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(2) with respect to the shutdown that began 

15 on December 21, 2018, and ended on January 25, 

16 2019, the 60-day period beginning on the date of en17 actment of this Act. 

18 ‘‘(dd) FEDERAL WORKER.—The term ‘Federal work19 er’— 

20 ‘‘(1) means an employee of a Government agen21 cy that had a lapse in appropriations as a result of 

22 a shutdown; and 

23 ‘‘(2) includes an employee of a contractor that 

24 has a contract with a Government agency that had 

25 a lapse in appropriations as a result of a shutdown. 


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1 ‘‘(ee) SHUTDOWN.—The term ‘shutdown’ means any 

2 period in which there is more than a 24-hour lapse in ap3 propriations for any Government agency or Federal de4 partment as a result of a failure to enact a regular appro5 priations bill or continuing resolution that results in a 

6 delay or loss of payment or wages to a Federal worker. 

7 ‘‘(ff) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term ‘small 

8 business concern’ has the meaning given the term in sec9 tion 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).’’. 

10 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON FURNISHING AN ADVERSE ITEM OF 

11 INFORMATION RESULTING FROM THE SHUT12 DOWN. 

13 Section 623 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

14 U.S.C. 1681s–2) is amended by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION ON FURNISHING ADVERSE INFOR17 MATION RESULTING FROM A SHUTDOWN.—A person shall 

18 not furnish any adverse item of information relating to 

19 a consumer during a covered period to any consumer re20 porting agency if the person has been notified by the con21 sumer that— 

22 ‘‘(1) the ability of the consumer to make an on23 time payment during the covered period has been 

24 materially affected by a shutdown; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) the late or missed payment by the con2 sumer during the covered period was a result of a 

3 shutdown.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON INCLUDING AN ADVERSE ITEM OF 

5 INFORMATION IN CONSUMER REPORTS. 

6 Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(9) An adverse item of information reported to 

10 the consumer reporting agency relating to a con11 sumer during a covered period if— 

12 ‘‘(A) the consumer is a Federal worker 

13 listed in the database described in section 

14 611(h)(2); or 

15 ‘‘(B) the consumer has successfully re16 quested the removal of an adverse item of infor17 mation contained in the consumer’s file pursu18 ant to the process described in section 

19 611(h)(4).’’. 

20 SEC. 5. PROCESS FOR DELETING NEGATIVE INFORMATION 

21 FROM CONSUMER REPORTS. 

22 The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et 

23 seq.) is amended— 

24 (1) in section 609(c)(1)(B) (15 U.S.C. 

25 1681g(c)(1)(B))— 


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1 (A) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (B) in clause (vi), by striking the period at 

4 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(vi) the right of a consumer to— 

7 ‘‘(I) request the deletion of ad8 verse items of information under sec9 tion 611(h)(4); and 

10 ‘‘(II) request 2 consumer reports, 

11 without charge to the consumer, 

12 under section 611(h)(5).’’; and 

13 (2) in section 611 (15 U.S.C. 1681i)— 

14 (A) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by inserting 

15 ‘‘and subsection (h)’’ before ‘‘, if the complete16 ness’’; and 

17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(h) DELETION OF ADVERSE ITEMS OF INFORMA19 TION RESULTING FROM A SHUTDOWN.— 

20 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE LIST OF IM21 PACTED FEDERAL WORKERS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) RECENT SHUTDOWN.—Not later than 

23 30 days after the date of enactment of this sub24 section— 


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1 ‘‘(i) each Government agency for 

2 which there was a lapse in appropriations 

3 during the shutdown that ended on Janu4 ary 25, 2019, shall provide to the Bureau 

5 a list of each Federal worker who was fur6 loughed or required to work without pay 

7 for any period of time during a shutdown; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(ii) each Federal contractor impacted 

10 by the shutdown that ended on January 

11 25, 2019, shall provide to the Bureau a list 

12 of each employee whose pay was reduced 

13 or delayed as a result of a shutdown. 

14 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT SHUTDOWNS.—With 

15 respect to a shutdown beginning after January 

16 25, 2019, not later than 3 days after the date 

17 on which the shutdown ends— 

18 ‘‘(i) each Government agency for 

19 which there was a lapse in appropriations 

20 shall provide to the Bureau a list of each 

21 Federal worker who was furloughed or re22 quired to work without pay for any period 

23 of time during the shutdown; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) each Federal contractor impacted 

25 by the shutdown shall provide to the BuVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Feb 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535

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1 reau a list of each employee whose pay was 

2 reduced or delayed as a result of the shut3 down. 

4 ‘‘(2) DATABASE.—The Bureau shall establish 

5 and maintain a secure database that— 

6 ‘‘(A) is accessible to consumer reporting 

7 agencies described in section 603(p) and nation8 wide specialty consumer reporting agencies to 

9 check and automatically delete any adverse item 

10 of information reported during a covered period 

11 with respect to a Federal worker under para12 graph (3); and 

13 ‘‘(B) contains the information reported 

14 under paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(3) DELETION OF ADVERSE ITEMS OF INFOR16 MATION BY NATIONWIDE CONSUMER REPORTING

17 AND NATIONWIDE SPECIALTY CONSUMER REPORT18 ING AGENCIES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each consumer re20 porting agency described in section 603(p) and 

21 each nationwide specialty consumer reporting 

22 agency shall, using the information contained in 

23 the database established under paragraph (2), 

24 delete from the file of each Federal worker 

25 named in the database each adverse item of inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Feb 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535

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1 formation reported to the agency during the 

2 covered period. 

3 ‘‘(B) TIMELINE.—Each agency described 

4 in subparagraph (A) shall— 

5 ‘‘(i) delete adverse items of informa6 tion as soon as practicable after informa7 tion that is reported under paragraph (1) 

8 appears in the database established under 

9 paragraph (2); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) not later than the date that is 3 

11 days after the end of a covered period, de12 lete any remaining adverse items of infor13 mation that were reported between the 

14 date on which adverse items of information 

15 were deleted under clause (i) and the end 

16 of the covered period. 

17 ‘‘(4) REQUEST FOR DELETION OF ADVERSE

18 ITEMS OF INFORMATION.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A consumer who is an 

20 employee or owner of a small business concern 

21 and who was materially affected by a shutdown 

22 may submit a request, without charge to the 

23 consumer, to a consumer reporting agency to 

24 delete from the consumer’s file an adverse item 


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1 of information reported to the consumer report2 ing agency during the covered period. 

3 ‘‘(B) TIMING.—A consumer may submit a 

4 request under subparagraph (A)— 

5 ‘‘(i) with respect to the shutdown that 

6 ended on January 25, 2019, not later than 

7 90 days after the date of enactment of this 

8 subsection; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) with respect to a shutdown be10 ginning after January 25, 2019, not later 

11 than 90 days after the date on which the 

12 shutdown ends. 

13 ‘‘(C) REMOVAL AND NOTIFICATION.—Upon 

14 receiving a request under this paragraph to de15 lete an adverse item of information, a consumer 

16 reporting agency shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) delete the adverse item of infor18 mation from the consumer’s file if the con19 sumer provides documentation to the con20 sumer reporting agency that the consumer 

21 is— 

22 ‘‘(I) a Federal worker whose pay 

23 was delayed or reduced during the 

24 covered period; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) an employee or owner of a 

2 small business concern who was mate3 rially affected by a shutdown; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) notify the consumer and the fur5 nisher of the adverse item of information 

6 of the deletion. 

7 ‘‘(5) FREE CREDIT REPORTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A consumer reporting 

9 agency shall make all disclosures pursuant to 

10 section 609 twice during the 12-month period 

11 following the end of a shutdown upon request 

12 by a consumer impacted by the shutdown and 

13 without charge to the consumer— 

14 ‘‘(i) with respect to the shutdown that 

15 ended on January 25, 2019, if the con16 sumer makes a request within 180 days 

17 after the date of enactment of this sub18 section; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) with respect to a shutdown be20 ginning after January 25, 2019, if the con21 sumer makes a request within 180 days 

22 after the date on which the shutdown ends. 

23 ‘‘(B) TIMING.—A consumer reporting 

24 agency shall provide a consumer report under 

25 subparagraph (A) not later than 15 days after 


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1 the date on which the request is received under 

2 subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—A consumer 

4 report provided under subparagraph (A) shall 

5 be in addition to any report requested by the 

6 consumer under section 612(a). 

7 ‘‘(D) PROHIBITION.—A consumer report8 ing agency that receives a request under sub9 paragraph (A) may not request or require any 

10 documentation from the consumer that dem11 onstrates that the consumer was impacted by a 

12 shutdown as a condition of receiving the con13 sumer report. 

14 ‘‘(6) POSTING OF RIGHTS.—Not later than 30 

15 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and im16 mediately after the beginning of a shutdown, each 

17 consumer reporting agency shall prominently post 

18 and maintain a direct link on the homepage of the 

19 public website of the consumer reporting agency in20 formation relating to the right of consumers to— 

21 ‘‘(A) request the deletion of adverse items 

22 of information under paragraph (4); and 

23 ‘‘(B) request 2 consumer reports, without 

24 charge to the consumer, under paragraph (5).’’. 

Æ 


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