II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3835 

To establish an interagency Working Group to study financial safety and 

inclusion for survivors, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 29, 2024 

Ms. SMITH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish an interagency Working Group to study financial safety and inclusion for survivors, 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 ‘‘Survivor Financial 

5 Safety and Inclusion Working Group Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WORKING GROUP FOR FINANCIAL SAFETY AND IN7 CLUSION FOR SURVIVORS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 

10 agencies’’ means the following: 


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1 (A) The Department of the Treasury. 

2 (B) The Board of Governors of the Fed3 eral Reserve System. 

4 (C) The Bureau of Consumer Financial 

5 Protection. 

6 (D) The Federal Deposit Insurance Cor7 poration. 

8 (E) The Office of the Comptroller of the 

9 Currency. 

10 (F) The National Credit Union Adminis11 tration. 

12 (G) The Securities and Exchange Commis13 sion. 

14 (H) The State insurance regulators. 

15 (2) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘domestic 

16 violence’’ means the use or attempted use of physical 

17 abuse or sexual abuse, or a pattern of any other co18 ercive behavior committed, enabled, or solicited to 

19 gain or maintain power and control over a survivor, 

20 including verbal, psychological, economic, or techno21 logical abuse that may or may not constitute crimi22 nal behavior, by a person who— 

23 (A) is a current or former spouse or inti24 mate partner of the survivor, or person simi25 larly situated to a spouse of the survivor; 


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1 (B) is cohabitating, or has cohabitated, 

2 with the survivor as a spouse or intimate part3 ner; 

4 (C) shares a child in common with the sur5 vivor; or 

6 (D) commits acts against a youth or adult 

7 survivor who is protected from those acts under 

8 the family or domestic violence laws of the ju9 risdiction. 

10 (3) ECONOMIC ABUSE.—The term ‘‘economic 

11 abuse’’ means behavior that is coercive, deceptive, or 

12 unreasonably controls or restrains the ability of a 

13 person to acquire, use, or maintain economic re14 sources to which they are entitled, including using 

15 coercion, fraud, or manipulation, to— 

16 (A) restrict access of a person to money, 

17 assets, credit, or financial information; 

18 (B) unfairly use the personal economic re19 sources of another person, including money, as20 sets, and credit, for the advantage of the per21 son; 

22 (C) exert undue influence over the finan23 cial and economic behavior or decisions of an24 other person, including forcing default on joint 

25 or other financial obligations; 


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1 (D) exploit powers of attorney, guardian2 ship, or conservatorship; or 

3 (E) fail or neglect to act in the best inter4 est of another person to whom one has a fidu5 ciary duty. 

6 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

7 means an Indian tribe included on the list published 

8 by the Secretary of the Interior under section 104 

9 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 

10 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

11 (5) LOW- OR MODERATE-INCOME COMMU12 NITY.—The term ‘‘low- or moderate-income commu13 nity’’ means a census tract designated as low-income 

14 or moderate-income by the Financial Institutions 

15 Examinations Council on a public website of the 

16 Council. 

17 (6) REGULATED FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The 

18 term ‘‘regulated financial institution’’ means— 

19 (A) a depository institution, as defined in 

20 section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act 

21 (12 U.S.C. 1813); 

22 (B) a Federal credit union or a State cred23 it union, as those terms are defined in section 

24 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 

25 U.S.C. 1752); 


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1 (C) an investment adviser, as defined in 

2 section 202(a) of the Investment Advisers Act 

3 of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b–2(a)); 

4 (D) a broker or dealer, as defined in sec5 tion 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 

6 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)); 

7 (E) an insurance company, as defined in 

8 section 2(a) of the Investment Company Act of 

9 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–2(a)); 

10 (F) any business entity that sells, solicits, 

11 or negotiates insurance coverage; 

12 (G) a transfer agent, as defined in section 

13 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

14 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)); 

15 (H) an individual who is required under 

16 State law to be licensed to sell, solicit, or nego17 tiate insurance coverage; and 

18 (I) an individual who— 

19 (i) is employed by, or associated with, 

20 an investment adviser; and 

21 (ii) does not perform solely clerical or 

22 ministerial acts. 

23 (7) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 

24 means any county that is mostly rural or completely 

25 rural in the latest available decennial census. 


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1 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

2 the several States of the United States and the Dis3 trict of Columbia. 

4 (9) SURVIVOR.—The term ‘‘survivor’’ means an 

5 individual who is or has previously been subjected to 

6 domestic violence, including economic abuse. 

7 (10) TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES.— 

8 The term ‘‘territory of the United States’’ means— 

9 (A) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

10 (B) Guam; 

11 (C) American Samoa; 

12 (D) the Commonwealth of the Northern 

13 Mariana Islands; and 

14 (E) the United States Virgin Islands. 

15 (11) WORKING GROUP.—The term ‘‘Working 

16 Group’’ means the interagency working group estab17 lished under subsection (b). 

18 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an inter19 agency working group to study the following: 

20 (1) How Congress and covered agencies can 

21 support regulated financial institutions in safely and 

22 confidentially collecting data on— 

23 (A) the types and prevalence of economic 

24 abuse tactics that are being carried out through 

25 regulated financial institutions; and 


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1 (B) the impacts of economic abuse tactics 

2 on consumers and regulated financial institu3 tions. 

4 (2) Data from regulated financial institutions 

5 on the statistics, trends, and impacts of economic 

6 abuse carried out through regulated financial insti7 tutions. 

8 (3) How regulated financial institutions can im9 prove existing financial products and services and 

10 design and offer new financial products and services 

11 specially tailored to meet the financial and safety 

12 needs of survivors. 

13 (4) How the recommendations and guidance 

14 provided by the Working Group account for any ad15 ditional financial or safety needs of historically 

16 underbanked and underserved communities, includ17 ing rural communities, low- or moderate-income 

18 communities, Indian tribes, and territories of the 

19 United States. 

20 (5) Any legislative or regulatory authority nec21 essary to implement any recommendations or guid22 ance provided by the Working Group. 

23 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Working Group shall be 

24 comprised of the following: 


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1 (1) The head of each of the following, or the 

2 head’s designee: 

3 (A) The Department of the Treasury. 

4 (B) The Board of Governors of the Fed5 eral Reserve System. 

6 (C) The Bureau of Consumer Financial 

7 Protection. 

8 (D) The Federal Deposit Insurance Cor9 poration. 

10 (E) The Office of the Comptroller of the 

11 Currency. 

12 (F) The National Credit Union Adminis13 tration. 

14 (G) The Securities and Exchange Commis15 sion. 

16 (2) A State insurance commissioner selected by 

17 the State insurance commissioners (through the Na18 tional Association of Insurance Commissioners). 

19 (3) One individual with expertise in economic 

20 abuse and experience working with and advocating 

21 on behalf of survivors of domestic violence, ap22 pointed by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

23 (4) One individual with expertise in consumer 

24 protection and experience working with and advoVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Mar 01, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3835.IS S3835

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1 cating on behalf of consumers, appointed by the Sec2 retary of the Treasury. 

3 (5) One individual who is a member of, and has 

4 experience working with and advocating on behalf of, 

5 communities that have been historically underbanked 

6 and unbanked, including rural communities, low- or 

7 moderate-income households, Indian tribes, and ter8 ritories of the United States, appointed by the Sec9 retary of the Treasury. 

10 (6) Any other individuals, but no more than 4, 

11 appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, as the 

12 Secretary determines appropriate. 

13 (d) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

14 (or the Secretary’s designee, as applicable) shall serve as 

15 the chairperson of the Working Group. 

16 (e) TERMS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Working 

18 Group shall serve a term of 2 years. 

19 (2) LIMITATION.—Each individual appointed 

20 under paragraphs (3) through (6) of subsection (c) 

21 may only serve 1 term. 

22 (3) FIRST TERM.—The first term of the Work23 ing Group shall begin on January 1st of the first 

24 calendar year that begins after the date of enact25 ment of this Act. 


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1 (f) MEETINGS.—The Working Group shall convene 

2 not later than 60 days after the beginning of the first term 

3 of the Working Group and shall meet not less frequently 

4 than twice a year thereafter. 

5 (g) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Working 

6 Group shall receive no additional compensation by reason 

7 of their service on the Working Group. 

8 (h) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members of the Working 

9 Group shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 

10 in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees 

11 of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 

12 United States Code, while away from home or regular 

13 places of business in performance of service for the Work14 ing Group. 

15 (i) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Working Group shall 

17 submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

18 Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

19 Financial Services of the House of Representatives 

20 an annual report regarding— 

21 (A) the activities of the Working Group; 

22 and 

23 (B) the study required under subsection 

24 (b). 


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1 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report under 

2 paragraph (1) shall be made publicly available online 

3 and in accessible format that complies with section 

4 4(b) of the Plain Writing Act of 2010 (5 U.S.C. 301 

5 note) and Executive Order 13166 (42 U.S.C. 

6 2000d–1 note; relating to access to services for per7 sons with limited English proficiency). 

8 (j) CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY.—The head of an 

9 agency described under subparagraphs (A) through (G) of 

10 subsection (c)(1) shall, when providing the semiannual 

11 written testimony and appearing before the Committee on 

12 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and 

13 the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep14 resentatives, include information on the activities of the 

15 agency as part of the Working Group. 

16 (k) TRANSPARENCY.—To the greatest extent prac17 ticable, the Working Group shall operate in a transparent 

18 manner that adheres to the requirements of chapter 10 

19 of title 5, United States Code, with the exception that the 

20 Working Group shall be permitted to freely communicate 

21 both during and between meetings in a confidential man22 ner to discuss non-public information and other sensitive 

23 and nonpublic issues. 

Æ 


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