IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2290 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To require the Federal financial regulators to issue guidance 

encouraging financial institutions to work with consumers and businesses affected by a Federal Government 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Shutdown Guidance 

3 for Financial Institutions Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SHUTDOWN GUIDANCE FOR FINANCIAL INSTITU5 TIONS. 

6 (a) GUIDANCE.—Not later than the end of the 180- 

7 day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 

8 the Federal financial regulators shall, jointly, in consulta9 tion with State banking regulators and other appropriate 

10 Federal and State agencies, issue shutdown guidance to 

11 the financial institutions they regulate encouraging the fi12 nancial institutions to— 

13 (1) work with consumers and businesses af14 fected by a shutdown; 

15 (2) recognize that consumers and businesses af16 fected by a shutdown may lose access to credit and 

17 face temporary hardship in making payments on 

18 debts such as mortgages, student loans, car loans, 

19 business loans, or credit cards; 

20 (3) consider prudent efforts to modify terms on 

21 existing loans or extend new credit to help con22 sumers and businesses affected by a shutdown, con23 sistent with safe-and-sound lending practices; and 

24 (4) take steps to prevent adverse information 

25 being reported in a manner that harms consumers 

26 affected by a shutdown, including by preventing 


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1 modified credit arrangements intended to help con2 sumers fulfill their financial obligations from being 

3 reported to, and coded by, consumer reporting agen4 cies on a consumer’s credit report in a manner that 

5 hurts the creditworthiness of the consumer. 

6 (b) NOTICE OF GUIDANCE DURING A SHUTDOWN.— 

7 Not later than the end of the 24-hour period beginning 

8 at the start of a shutdown, the Federal financial regu9 lators shall, jointly, issue a press release to alert financial 

10 institutions, consumers, and businesses to the existence, 

11 and content, of the guidance issued pursuant to subsection 

12 (a). 

13 (c) POST-SHUTDOWN REPORT TO CONGRESS AND

14 UPDATED GUIDANCE.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the end of 

16 the 90-day period beginning on the date a shutdown 

17 ends, the Federal financial regulators shall, jointly, 

18 issue a report to Congress containing an analysis of 

19 the effectiveness of the guidance issued pursuant to 

20 subsection (a). 

21 (2) UPDATED GUIDANCE.—Not later than the 

22 end of the 180-day period beginning on the date a 

23 report is issued under paragraph (1), the Federal fi24 nancial regulators shall update the guidance reVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2290.RFS H2290

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1 quired under subsection (a) if any shortcomings are 

2 identified in such report. 

3 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) CONSUMERS AFFECTED BY A SHUTDOWN.— 

5 The term ‘‘consumers affected by a shutdown’’ 

6 means an individual who is an employee of— 

7 (A) the Federal Government, and who is 

8 furloughed or excepted from a furlough during 

9 the shutdown; 

10 (B) the District of Columbia, and who is 

11 not receiving pay because of the shutdown; or 

12 (C) a Federal contractor (as defined under 

13 section 7101 of title 41, United States Code) or 

14 other business, and who has experienced a sub15 stantial reduction in pay due to the shutdown. 

16 (2) CONSUMERS AND BUSINESSES AFFECTED

17 BY A SHUTDOWN.—The term ‘‘consumers and busi18 nesses affected by a shutdown’’ means— 

19 (A) a consumer affected by a shutdown; 

20 and 

21 (B) a Federal contractor (as defined under 

22 section 7101 of title 41, United States Code) or 

23 other business that has experienced a substan24 tial reduction in income due to the shutdown. 


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1 (3) FEDERAL FINANCIAL REGULATORS.—The 

2 term ‘‘Federal financial regulators’’ means the 

3 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 

4 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the 

5 Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit 

6 Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit 

7 Union Administration. 

8 (4) SHUTDOWN.—The term ‘‘shutdown’’ means 

9 any period in which there is more than a 24-hour 

10 lapse in appropriations as a result of a failure to 

11 enact a regular appropriations bill or continuing res12 olution. 

13 SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

14 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

15 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

16 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

17 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

18 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

19 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, 


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1 provided that such statement has been submitted prior to 

2 the vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 19, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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