II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3529 

To amend the Investor Protection and Securities Reform Act of 2010 to 

provide grants to States for enhanced protection of senior investors 

and senior policyholders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 20, 2022 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. WARNOCK, 

and Ms. LUMMIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Investor Protection and Securities Reform 

Act of 2010 to provide grants to States for enhanced 

protection of senior investors and senior policyholders, 

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 ‘‘Empowering States 

5 to Protect Seniors from Bad Actors Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES FOR ENHANCED 

2 PROTECTION OF SENIOR INVESTORS AND 

3 SENIOR POLICYHOLDERS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 989A of the Investor Pro5 tection and Securities Reform Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 

6 5537) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 989A. GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES FOR EN8 HANCED PROTECTION OF SENIOR INVES9 TORS AND SENIOR POLICYHOLDERS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en12 tity’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) the securities commission (or any 

14 agency or office performing like functions) of 

15 any State; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the insurance department (or any 

17 agency or office performing like functions) of 

18 any State. 

19 ‘‘(2) SENIOR.—The term ‘senior’ means any in20 dividual who has attained the age of 62 years or 

21 older. 

22 ‘‘(3) SENIOR FINANCIAL FRAUD.—The term 

23 ‘senior financial fraud’ means a fraudulent or other24 wise illegal, unauthorized, or improper act or process 

25 of an individual, including a caregiver or a fiduciary, 

26 that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) uses the resources of a senior for 

2 monetary or personal benefit, profit, or gain; 

3 ‘‘(B) results in depriving a senior of right4 ful access to or use of benefits, resources, be5 longings, or assets; or 

6 ‘‘(C) is an action described in section 1348 

7 of title 18, United States Code, that is taken 

8 against a senior. 

9 ‘‘(4) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘task force’ 

10 means the task force established under subsection 

11 (b)(1). 

12 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

13 ‘‘(1) TASK FORCE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

15 establish a task force to carry out the grant 

16 program under paragraph (2). 

17 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—The task force shall 

18 consist of the following members: 

19 ‘‘(i) A Chair of the task force, who— 

20 ‘‘(I) shall be appointed by the 

21 Chairman of the Commission, in con22 sultation with the Commissioners of 

23 the Commission; and 

24 ‘‘(II) may be a representative of 

25 the Office of the Investor Advocate of 


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1 the Commission, the Division of En2 forcement of the Commission, or such 

3 other representative as the Commis4 sion determines appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(ii) If the Chair is not a representa6 tive of the Office of the Investor Advocate 

7 of the Commission, a representative of 

8 such Office. 

9 ‘‘(iii) If the Chair is not a representa10 tive of the Division of Enforcement of the 

11 Commission, a representative of such Divi12 sion. 

13 ‘‘(iv) Such other representatives as 

14 the Commission determines appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(C) DETAIL OF EXECUTIVE AGENCY EM16 PLOYEES.—Upon the request of the Commis17 sion, the head of any Federal agency may de18 tail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the per19 sonnel of that Federal agency to the Commis20 sion to assist it in carrying out its functions 

21 under this section. The detail of any such per22 sonnel shall be without interruption or loss of 

23 civil service status or privilege. 

24 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The task force shall carry out 

25 a program under which the task force shall make 


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1 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities, 

2 which— 

3 ‘‘(A) may use the grant funds— 

4 ‘‘(i) to hire staff to identify, inves5 tigate, and prosecute (through civil, admin6 istrative, or criminal enforcement actions) 

7 cases involving senior financial fraud; 

8 ‘‘(ii) to fund technology, equipment, 

9 and training for regulators, prosecutors, 

10 and law enforcement officers, in order to 

11 identify, investigate, and prosecute cases 

12 involving senior financial fraud; 

13 ‘‘(iii) to provide educational materials 

14 and training to seniors to increase aware15 ness and understanding of senior financial 

16 fraud; 

17 ‘‘(iv) to develop comprehensive plans 

18 to combat senior financial fraud; and 

19 ‘‘(v) to enhance provisions of State 

20 law to provide protection from senior fi21 nancial fraud; and 

22 ‘‘(B) may not use the grant funds for any 

23 indirect expense, such as rent, utilities, or any 

24 other general administrative cost that is not diVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jan 21, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3529.IS S3529

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1 rectly related to the purpose of the grant pro2 gram. 

3 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF TASK FORCE.—In carrying 

4 out paragraph (2), the task force— 

5 ‘‘(A) may consult with staff of the Com6 mission; and 

7 ‘‘(B) shall make public all actions of the 

8 task force relating to carrying out that para9 graph. 

10 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity desiring a 

11 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 

12 task force, in such form and in such a manner as the task 

13 force may determine, that includes— 

14 ‘‘(1) a proposal for activities to protect seniors 

15 from senior financial fraud that are proposed to be 

16 funded using a grant under this section, including— 

17 ‘‘(A) an identification of the scope of the 

18 problem of senior financial fraud in the applica19 ble State; 

20 ‘‘(B) a description of how the proposed ac21 tivities would— 

22 ‘‘(i) protect seniors from senior finan23 cial fraud, including by proactively identi24 fying victims of senior financial fraud; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) assist in the investigation and 

2 prosecution of those committing senior fi3 nancial fraud; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) discourage and reduce cases of 

5 senior financial fraud; and 

6 ‘‘(C) a description of how the proposed ac7 tivities would be coordinated with other State 

8 efforts; and 

9 ‘‘(2) any other information that the task force 

10 determines appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(d) PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES; REPORTING RE12 QUIREMENTS; AUDITS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The task force— 

14 ‘‘(A) may establish such performance ob15 jectives and reporting requirements for eligible 

16 entities receiving a grant under this section as 

17 the task force determines are necessary to carry 

18 out and assess the effectiveness of the program 

19 under this section; and 

20 ‘‘(B) shall require each eligible entity that 

21 receives a grant under this section to submit to 

22 the task force a detailed accounting of the use 

23 of grant funds, which shall be submitted at 

24 such time, in such form, and containing such 

25 information as the task force may require. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years, and 

2 again not later than 5 years, after the date of the 

3 enactment of the Empowering States to Protect Sen4 iors from Bad Actors Act, the task force shall sub5 mit to the Committee on Financial Services of the 

6 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

7 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate 

8 a report that— 

9 ‘‘(A) specifies each recipient of a grant 

10 under this section; 

11 ‘‘(B) includes a description of the pro12 grams that are supported by each such grant; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(C) includes an evaluation by the task 

15 force of the effectiveness of such grants. 

16 ‘‘(3) AUDITS.—The task force shall annually 

17 conduct an audit of the program under this section 

18 to ensure that eligible entities to which grants are 

19 made under that program are, for the year covered 

20 by the audit, using grant funds for the intended pur21 poses of those funds. 

22 ‘‘(e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant to 

23 an eligible entity under this section may not exceed 

24 $500,000, which the task force shall adjust annually to 

25 reflect the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index 


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1 for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of 

2 Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor. 

3 ‘‘(f) SUBGRANTS.—An eligible entity that receives a 

4 grant under this section may, in consultation with the task 

5 force, make a subgrant, as the eligible entity determines 

6 is necessary or appropriate— 

7 ‘‘(1) to carry out the activities described in sub8 section (b)(2)(A); and 

9 ‘‘(2) which may not be used for any activity de10 scribed in subsection (b)(2)(B). 

11 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

13 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con15 tents in section 1(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Re16 form and Consumer Protection Act is amended by striking 

17 the item relating to section 989A and inserting the fol18 lowing: 

‘‘Sec. 989A. Grants to eligible entities for enhanced protection of senior investors and senior policyholders.’’. 

Æ 


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