II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3053 

To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to provide grants for eligible 

entities to provide services to improve financial literacy among older 

individuals. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2008 

Mr. SMITH (for himself and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to provide 

grants for eligible entities to provide services to improve 

financial literacy among older individuals. 

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

3 SECTION 1. FINANCIAL LITERACY SERVICES. 

4 Part A of title XI of the Social Security Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘FINANCIAL LITERACY SERVICES

8 ‘‘SEC. 1150A. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) AREA AGENCY ON AGING.—The term ‘area 

2 agency on aging’ has the meaning given that term 

3 in section 102 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 

4 (42 U.S.C. 3002). 

5 ‘‘(2) FINANCIAL LITERACY SERVICES.—The 

6 term ‘financial literacy services’ means the services 

7 described in subsection (b)(1). 

8 ‘‘(3) OLDER INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘older in9 dividual’ has the meaning given that term in such 

10 section 102. 

11 ‘‘(b) GRANTS FOR SERVICES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

13 grants to eligible entities and other entities deter14 mined appropriate by the Secretary to enable the en15 tities to provide services to improve financial literacy 

16 among older individuals, including older individuals 

17 who are women, and the family members and legal 

18 representatives of such individuals. The Secretary 

19 shall make the grants on a competitive basis, and 

20 nationwide. 

21 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to re22 ceive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall 

23 be an area agency on aging or another entity that 

24 meets such requirements as the Secretary may speci25 fy. 


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1 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

2 grant under this subsection, an entity shall submit 

3 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

4 manner, and containing such information as the Sec5 retary may require. In the case of an entity who in6 tends to provide the financial literacy services jointly 

7 with other services as described in paragraph (4)(C), 

8 the application shall include information dem9 onstrating that the entity has the capacity to provide 

10 the services jointly. 

11 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An entity that re13 ceives a grant under this subsection shall use 

14 the funds made available through the grant to 

15 provide financial literacy services, such as fi16 nancial literacy education, training, and assist17 ance. 

18 ‘‘(B) PROVISION THROUGH CONTRACTS.— 

19 The entity may provide the services directly or 

20 by entering into a contract with an organization 

21 that provides counseling, advice, or representa22 tion to older individuals and the family mem23 bers and legal representatives of such individ24 uals in a community served by the entity. 


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1 ‘‘(C) PROVISION WITH OTHER SERVICES.— 

2 The entity may provide the services alone or 

3 jointly with other services provided by or fund4 ed by the eligible entity, such as— 

5 ‘‘(i) services provided through State 

6 Health Insurance Assistance Programs; 

7 ‘‘(ii) services provided through a 

8 Long-Term Care Ombudsman program 

9 under section 307(a)(9) or 712 of the 

10 Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 

11 3027, 3058g); 

12 ‘‘(iii) information and assistance serv13 ices provided under the Older Americans 

14 Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.); 

15 ‘‘(iv) legal assistance services provided 

16 under the Older Americans Act of 1965 

17 (42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.); 

18 ‘‘(v) services provided through Senior 

19 Medicare Patrol Projects conducted by the 

20 Administration on Aging; 

21 ‘‘(vi) case management services; and 

22 ‘‘(vii) services provided through Aging 

23 and Disability Resource Centers. 


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1 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to 

2 Congress an annual report on the activities carried 

3 out by entities under a grant under this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(c) NATIONAL SUPPORT CENTER FOR FINANCIAL

5 LITERACY GRANT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may make a 

7 grant to an eligible center to coordinate the services 

8 provided through, and support the grant recipients 

9 under, the grant program carried out under sub10 section (b). 

11 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE CENTER.—To be eligible to re12 ceive a grant under this subsection, a center shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) be an entity that is housed within an 

14 organization described in section 501(c) of the 

15 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is exempt 

16 from taxation under section 501(a) of such 

17 Code; 

18 ‘‘(B) have a minimum of 10 years experi19 ence operating a national program and support 

20 center with a focus on financial literacy; and 

21 ‘‘(C) be primarily engaged in outreach and 

22 training activities designed to provide financial 

23 education and retirement planning for low- and 

24 moderate-income individuals, particularly with 

25 respect to women; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) have a demonstrated record of col2 laboration with organizations that focus on the 

3 needs of low- and moderate-income individuals 

4 and with national organizations serving the el5 derly, including those working with area agen6 cies on aging and women, as well as organiza7 tions with expertise in financial services and re8 lated fields. 

9 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—A center that receives a 

10 grant under this subsection shall use the funds made 

11 available through the grant to— 

12 ‘‘(A) design and conduct training (which 

13 may include providing training for trainers) re14 lated to financial literacy services; 

15 ‘‘(B) provide curricula for financial literacy 

16 services; 

17 ‘‘(C) develop and disseminate relevant in18 formation about financial literacy services; 

19 ‘‘(D) conduct outreach to national, State, 

20 and community organizations through a series 

21 of strategic partnerships in order to improve fi22 nancial literacy among older individuals and the 

23 family members and legal representatives of 

24 such individuals; 


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1 ‘‘(E) provide technical assistance to the 

2 grant recipients under subsection (b) with re3 spect to the program; and 

4 ‘‘(F) collect data from such grant recipi5 ents about the services provided under this sec6 tion, and the impact of those services. 

7 ‘‘(4) ADDRESSING CHALLENGES TO WOMEN IN

8 SECURING ADEQUATE RETIREMENT INCOME.—In ad9 dition to the activities described in paragraph (3), a 

10 center that receives a grant under this subsection 

11 shall use the funds made available through the grant 

12 to conduct activities that are focused on addressing 

13 the challenges faced by older women, women of 

14 color, single women, and women who are heads of 

15 households to securing an adequate retirement in16 come. 

17 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall ensure 

18 that the activities carried out under the grant program 

19 under subsection (b) and under a grant made under sub20 section (c) are coordinated with the activities carried out 

21 by— 

22 ‘‘(1) the Office of Financial Education of the 

23 Department of the Treasury; and 

24 ‘‘(2) the Financial Literacy and Education 

25 Commission established under section 513 of the FiVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:52 May 24, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3053.IS S3053

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1 nancial Literacy and Education Improvement Act 

2 (20 U.S.C. 9702). 

3 ‘‘(e) FUNDING.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

4 transfer to the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

5 from the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust 

6 Fund and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund estab7 lished under section 201 such funds as are necessary for 

8 making grants under this section.’’. 

Æ 


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