I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6553 
To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to establish the Boost Communities 
Program to provide monthly payments to America’s consumers during 
the COVID–19 emergency to recover from the emergency, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 17, 2020 
Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 
OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. OMAR, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, and Mr. GARCI´A of 
Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Finan-
cial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of the Treasury to establish the 
Boost Communities Program to provide monthly pay-
ments to America’s consumers during the COVID–19 
emergency to recover from the emergency, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Automatic Boost to 
Communities Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 
the Boost Communities Program as set forth in sec-
tion 3. 
(2) INTERIM BOOST CARD.—The term ‘‘interim 
BOOST card’’ means a prepaid debit card issued 
pursuant to section 3. 
(3) PAYMENT
PERIOD.—The term ‘‘payment 
period’’ means the period— 
(A) beginning on the first day of the first 
month beginning after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act; and 
(B) ending on the later of— 
(i) 1 year after the termination of the 
emergency declared on March 13, 2020, by 
the President under section 501(b) of the 
Robert Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191(b)) 
with respect to the COVID–19 pandemic; 
or 
(ii) 1 year after— 
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(I) the national unemployment 
rate (as determined by the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics) is within 2 percent-
age points of the national unemploy-
ment rate on the moving average of 
December 2019 through February 
2020; and 
(II) the 3-month average of the 
national unemployment rate has de-
clined for two consecutive months. 
(4) DIGITAL DOLLARS.—The term ‘‘digital dol-
lars’’ means dollar balances consisting of digital 
ledger entries recorded as liabilities in the accounts 
of any Federal reserve bank and digital coins or cur-
rency instruments issued by the United States 
Treasury as legal tender, and held as bearer instru-
ments in any digital dollar cash wallet approved by 
the United States Treasury. 
(5) DIGITAL DOLLAR ACCOUNT WALLETS.—The 
term ‘‘digital dollar account wallet’’ means a digital 
dollar account, maintained by a Federal reserve 
bank on behalf of any person, for the purpose of 
holding digital dollar balances. 
(6) DIGITAL
DOLLAR
CASH
WALLETS.—The 
term ‘‘digital dollar cash wallet’’ means any software 
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program, whose standards, specifications, and func-
tions are authorized and regulated by the United 
States Treasury, which stores, sends, and receives 
digital coins or currency instruments issued by the 
United States Treasury as legal tender, and which 
are considered bearer instruments in the possession 
of the individual or entity on whose behalf the wallet 
is managed and administered. 
(7) AT-RISK POPULATIONS.—The term ‘‘at-risk 
population’’ means a population that is experiencing, 
or reasonably may be expected to experience, unique 
direct or indirect financial or personal hardship as 
a result of or during the Coronavirus crisis, includ-
ing the elderly, homeless, physically disabled, and 
those in remote areas, as well as any other popu-
lation as identified by the Secretary. 
(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Treasury. 
SEC. 3. BOOST COMMUNITIES PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 
program to be known as the ‘‘Boost Communities Pro-
gram’’. Under the Program, the Secretary shall make pay-
ments to eligible individuals for each month in the pay-
ment period. Such payments shall consist of a general as-
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sistance component and a targeted supplemental assist-
ance component. 
(b) PAYMENTS.—For purposes of this section— 
(1) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.—The amount of 
payments under the Program shall be— 
(A) for general assistance— 
(i) $2,000 per month to each eligible 
individual thereafter during the payment 
period; and 
(ii) $1,000 per month to each eligible 
individual a year after the payment period; 
and 
(B) for targeted supplemental assistance, 
such additional amounts and sums as deter-
mined by the Secretary to be necessary and ap-
propriate to meet the specific needs of eligible 
individuals who are members of at-risk popu-
lations, as identified by the Secretary. 
(2) METHODS OF PAYMENT.— 
(A) DIRECT DEPOSIT.—As regards recipi-
ents who have previously provided bank account 
information to the Secretary, the Secretary 
shall directly deposit Program payments into 
these accounts, unless recipients indicate a pref-
erence to receive an Interim BOOST Card in-
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stead, in which case that preference shall be 
honored, and all subsequent Program payments 
shall be made exclusively via the BOOST card. 
(B) INTERIM BOOST CARDS.—In any case 
in which subparagraph (A) does not apply, the 
Secretary shall contract with banking institu-
tions that includes minority deposit institutions, 
community development financial institutions, 
credit unions, national banking association, and 
any licensed money transmitter as deemed nec-
essary or appropriate by the Secretary to issue 
an interim BOOST card. 
(3) INTERIM BOOST CARDS.— 
(A) RULES RELATING TO INTERIM BOOST 
CARDS.—The interim BOOST card shall— 
(i) have all the functionality and serv-
ice levels currently available to certain re-
cipients of public benefits through the 
Treasury Department’s Direct Express 
program; and 
(ii) not be subject to any fees or pen-
alty charges, usage restrictions, or data 
collection practices other than those explic-
itly authorized by this Act. 
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(B) AVAILABILITY OF FULL BALANCE.— 
The full balance of the interim BOOST card 
shall be made available for immediate with-
drawal into physical currency at any automated 
teller machine in the country, at any time, and 
not be subject to any usage or withdrawal fees. 
(C) DISTRIBUTION.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
distribute interim BOOST cards using the 
Postal Service to all eligible individuals 
with an active address on file with any 
government agency, and shall be delivered 
by certified mail wherever possible, using 
the fastest service available, with any asso-
ciated costs to the Postal Service reim-
bursed directly by the Treasury of the 
United States. 
(ii) IN PERSON PICK-UP.—Any eligible 
individual who does not have an active ad-
dress on file with any government agency, 
or who otherwise is not able to or does not 
receive a prepaid card pursuant to clause 
(i) may obtain an interim or replacement 
BOOST card through any card distribu-
tion station set up under the Program, in-
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cluding through any bank (as defined in 
section 581 of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986), insured credit union (within the 
meaning of section 101(7) of the Federal 
Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752(7)) lo-
cated in the United States, post office, 
United States diplomatic missions or any 
other Federal, State, or local government 
agency or private contracting entity, as de-
termined by the Secretary to be necessary 
or appropriate. 
(iii) WEB-BASED ACCESS.—The Sec-
retary shall establish a website for the pur-
poses of allowing eligible recipients to up-
date their current mailing address and di-
rect deposit information, to indicate their 
preference to receive an Interim BOOST 
card instead of receiving payments via di-
rect deposit, and for providing account in-
formation to users, including information 
pertaining to the account number, status 
of delivery and receipt of their allocated 
funds, and the amount of the funds still 
available on their card and to obtain a 
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check in the amount of the funds in the 
account. 
(iv) TELEPHONE ACCESS.—The Sec-
retary shall establish a dedicated telephone 
information and assistance number for the 
purposes of allowing eligible recipients to 
update their current mailing address and 
direct deposit information, to indicate their 
preference to receive an Interim BOOST 
card instead of receiving payments via di-
rect deposit, and for providing account or 
card information to users, including infor-
mation pertaining to the status of delivery 
and receipt of their allocated funds, and 
the amount of the funds still available on 
their card. 
(v) AT-RISK
OUTREACH.—The Sec-
retary shall establish a dedicated Emer-
gency Responder Corps, and where nec-
essary or appropriate, as determined by 
the Secretary, shall contract with existing 
Federal, State, and local government agen-
cies and private entities, to perform out-
reach to at-risk populations, including the 
elderly, homeless, physically disabled, or in 
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remote areas, to ensure that these popu-
lations receive their interim BOOST card 
as well as to perform a general wellness 
check in case of needed targeted supple-
mental assistance, which shall then be pro-
vided in such sums and amounts as deter-
mined to be necessary and appropriate by 
the Secretary via any payments mechanism 
otherwise authorized by this Act and 
deemed appropriate for the circumstances 
by the Secretary. 
(4) REGULATORY TREATMENT OF PAYMENT.— 
The Secretary shall apply the ‘‘XX’’ code specified 
in section 212.3 of title 31, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, to designate all Program payments as benefit 
payments. The Secretary shall further issue such 
rules or guidance as needed to protect Program pay-
ments from garnishment. In addition, the Secretary 
shall issue such rules or guidance as needed to en-
sure that any funds distributed through the Pro-
gram do not render recipients ineligible for any 
other Federal, State, or local benefits or income that 
they would otherwise have been entitled to receive in 
the absence of the Program, including excluding any 
general assistance or targeted supplemental assist-
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ance received via the Program from calculation of 
reportable annual income for the purpose of calcu-
lating eligibility for benefits subject to an income- 
cap threshold. 
(c) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible indi-
vidual’’ means— 
(A) any citizen or resident of the United 
States means a citizen or resident (as such 
terms are used in section 7701(a)(30)(A) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986) of the United 
States; and 
(B) any nonresident alien (as defined in 
section 7701(b)(1)(B) of such Code) who has 
been in the United States for more than the 3- 
month period beginning on December 13, 2019. 
(2) 
UNITED
STATES.—The 
term 
‘‘United 
States’’ includes the 50 States, the District of Co-
lumbia, and the possessions of the United States, in-
corporated territories and citizens abroad. 
(d) RULES RELATING TO PROGRAM.— 
(1) COORDINATION.—To ensure that the Pro-
gram is as universal and comprehensive as possible, 
the Secretary shall develop a list of eligible individ-
uals through coordination with the Internal Revenue 
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Service, the Social Security Administration, the Fed-
eral Election Commission, and every other relevant 
Federal, State, and local government agency, includ-
ing State Departments of Motor Vehicles. Any ex-
penses incurred by any entity as a result of compli-
ance with the gathering of this information and con-
struction of this database shall be reimbursed di-
rectly by the United States Treasury. 
(2) DATABASE OF RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary 
shall establish a database of recipients, identified by 
name and, where available, employer identification 
number, individual tax identification number, stu-
dent identification, or swear in an affidavit where 
you are ineligible for a social security number and 
unable to submit satisfactory proof that your pres-
ence in the United States is authorized by Federal 
law. This affidavit will not be treated as public 
record and use solely for the purposes of this pro-
gram. The database established under this para-
graph shall not be shared with any other Federal, 
State, or local agency, other entity, or Immigration 
Customs Enforcement and related enforcement 
agencies, or used for any purpose other than to ad-
minister the program, provided that the Secretary 
may share identifying information with the Board of 
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Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the 
United States Postal Office for the purpose of devel-
oping banking accounts maintained at the Federal 
Reserve Board or for the purposes of maintain ac-
counts at the United State Postal Office, upon re-
ceipt of written consent of recipients for such infor-
mation to be shared for this purpose. 
(e) PUBLIC AWARENESS PROGRAM.—Not later than 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
establish an awareness program to inform the public of 
the availability of the existence of the Program and eligi-
bility of recipients to receive general and targeted supple-
mental assistance, as well as the various payment and dis-
tribution options available to receive this assistance. The 
Secretary shall use appropriate means of communication 
to carry out the provisions of this section. 
(f) FUNDING.— 
(1) DIRECTIVE TO MINT AND ISSUE PLATINUM 
COINS.—The Secretary shall, under section 5112(k) 
of title 31, United States Code, mint and issue two 
$1 trillion platinum coins and shall further mint and 
issue any additional $1 trillion coins on an as-needed 
basis to cover any direct and indirect expenses re-
lated to the Program for the duration of the pro-
gram. 
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(2) TRANSFER
OF
FUNDS
TO
THE
GENERAL 
FUND.—The Secretary shall direct the United States 
Mint to sweep all funds received from the sale of the 
coins under paragraph (2) into the general fund of 
the Treasury. 
(g) PRESERVING FEDERAL RESERVE INDEPEND-
ENCE AND EFFICACY OF MONETARY POLICY.—To ensure 
that the Program does not unintentionally or unduly inter-
fere with or limit the efficacy of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem in achieving its statutory obligations, including in par-
ticular with respect to implementation of its monetary pol-
icy objectives, the Board of Governors of the Federal Re-
serve shall be authorized: 
(1) SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCING SECURITIES.— 
To issue as Federal reserve notes under section 
248(d) of title 12, United States Code, digital secu-
rities, including bills, notes, and bonds, of whatever 
maturity, denomination, and yield, as is deemed ap-
propriate and necessary by the Board of Governors 
to achieve its statutory objectives under the Federal 
Reserve Act, in quantities up to an amount equiva-
lent to the total face value of all platinum coins 
issued by the United States Treasury and held as 
assets by the Federal Reserve System. Notes issued 
under this paragraph shall be sold on the open mar-
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ket in a manner similar to the sale of Treasury secu-
rities, and, like Federal reserve notes, shall be con-
sidered direct obligations of the United States under 
section 8 of title 18, United States Code, but shall 
be recorded for accounting purposes as direct liabil-
ities of the Federal Reserve System, and accordingly 
shall not be included in calculations of public debt 
subject to limit under section 3101 of title 31, 
United States Code. 
(2) ESTABLISH A DEDICATED SPECIAL TREAS-
URY MONETARY FINANCING ACCOUNT.—The Federal 
Reserve Bank of New York shall establish an ac-
count titled the ‘‘Special Treasury Monetary Financ-
ing Account’’, in which shall be recorded any ex-
penses associated with payment of interest on settle-
ment balances or Federal reserve securities up to a 
total principal amount equivalent to the total prin-
cipal value of all platinum coins issued by the 
United States Treasury and held as assets by the 
Federal Reserve System, plus any additional liabil-
ities incurred as a result of prior interest payments 
made on liabilities issued against coin assets pur-
chased under the Program. Any ongoing losses in-
curred by this account shall be recorded as a nega-
tive liability, and shall be maintained separately 
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from the rest of the balance sheet of both the Fed-
eral Reserve Bank of New York and the Federal Re-
serve System, so as not to reduce or impact the cal-
culation of total income or revenue generated by the 
Federal Reserve System, or otherwise reduce the 
total amount of net operating profits to be made 
available for remittance to the Treasury on an ongo-
ing basis. 
(h) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary and the Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall issue such 
regulations or other guidance as may be necessary or ap-
propriate to carry out this section. 
(i) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ESTABLISH-
MENT OF FEDACCOUNTS AND TREASURY-ADMINISTERED 
ECASH WALLETS.— 
(1) DIGITAL DOLLAR ACCOUNT WALLETS.— 
(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—It is a sense of 
Congress that at the end of the payment period, 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System shall develop and administer a system 
of Digital Dollar Account Wallets, which shall 
be branded as ‘‘FedAccounts’’, and made avail-
able to all United States citizens, United States 
residents, and domestically domiciled busi-
nesses, along with associated services, including 
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debit cards, online account access, automatic 
bill-pay, mobile banking, and automatic teller 
machines maintained in conjunction with the 
United States Postal Services at its physical lo-
cations. 
(B) BOOST PAYMENTS VIA DIGITAL DOL-
LAR ACCOUNT WALLETS.—No later than Janu-
ary 1, 2021, the Secretary shall offer all recipi-
ents of BOOST payments the option to receive 
their payments in digital dollar wallets. BOOST 
recipients receiving their payments through in-
terim BOOST cards shall instead receive a Fed-
eral Reserve Account for debit cards and be 
given the option to sign up online for fully oper-
ational digital dollar account wallets. 
(C) AUTHORIZATION FOR EACH FEDERAL 
RESERVE
BANK
TO
MAINTAIN
DIGITAL
AC-
COUNT.—Subject to such restrictions, limita-
tions, and regulations as may be imposed by the 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem, each Federal reserve bank may maintain 
digital dollar account wallets. 
(D) Digital dollar account wallets shall not 
be subject to any account fees, minimum bal-
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ances, or maximum balances, and shall not be 
closed or restricted on the basis of profitability. 
(E) Digital dollar account wallets shall 
partner with Post Office branches to ensure ac-
cess and availability to application and account 
services for all United States citizens and 
United States residents and domestically domi-
ciled businesses in areas where access to phys-
ical member bank branches is limited, in low- or 
moderate-income geographies; designated dis-
aster areas; distressed or underserved non-met-
ropolitan middle-income geographies as des-
ignated by the Federal Financial Institutions 
Examination Council, Federal Reserve banks. 
(F) Digital dollar account wallets shall 
provide account holders with reasonable protec-
tion against losses caused by fraud or security 
breaches but shall not include overdraft cov-
erage. 
(G) Digital dollar account wallets shall 
comply with the relevant portions of the Bank 
Secrecy Act in establishing and maintaining 
digital dollar account wallets and shall impose 
privacy obligations on providers under the Pri-
vacy Act of 1974 that mirror those applicable 
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to Federal tax returns under sections 6103, 
7213(a)(1), 7213A, and 7431 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986. 
(2) TERMS
OF
DOLLAR
CASH
WALLET
SYS-
TEM.—At the end of the payment period, the Treas-
ury shall develop and administer a system of digital 
dollar cash wallets, which shall be branded as 
‘‘eCash Wallets’’ and made available to any eligible 
individual to store, send, and receive digital coins or 
other digital currency instruments issued by the 
United States Treasury as legal tender. 
(3) ADDITIONAL SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is 
the additional sense of Congress that— 
(A) digital dollar cash wallet hosting serv-
ices shall be offered directly by the Treasury, in 
coordination with the Federal Reserve and li-
censed depository and money transmitter enti-
ties, to promote integration with and interoper-
ability between digital dollar cash wallets and 
digital dollar account wallets managed by the 
Federal Reserve, and shall not be subject to any 
associated administrative fees or minimum or 
maximum balances, and shall not be closed on 
the basis of profitability considerations; 
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