I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4130
To require that all Federal recurring payments be paid by electronic funds
transfer, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 24, 1994
Mr. DARDEN (for himself, Mr. LIGHTFOOT, and Mr. HOYER) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Operations
A BILL
To require that all Federal recurring payments be paid by
electronic funds transfer, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER.
Section 3332 of title 31, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘§ 3332. Required and presumed direct deposit
‘‘(a) MANNER OF PAYMENTS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law and subject to subsection (b), all re-
curring Federal payments, including Federal wage,
salary, and retirement payments, shall be paid by
electronic funds transfer in accordance with regula-
tions prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury.
‘‘(2) DESIGNATION BY RECIPIENT OF PAYEE FI-
NANCIAL INSTITUTION.—Each recipient of any class
of recurring Federal payments, including Federal
wage, salary, or retirement payments, shall—
‘‘(A) designate 1 or more financial institu-
tions to which any such payment shall be made;
and
‘‘(B) provide the agency responsible for
certifying or authorizing such payment with
such information as may be necessary for the
recipient to receive electronic funds transfer
payments through the institutions so des-
ignated.
‘‘(3) AUTHORITY TO LIMIT NUMBER OF DES-
IGNATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treasury may
limit the number of financial institutions which an
individual may designate under paragraph (2)(A)
with respect to any payment to not fewer than 3 fi-
nancial institutions.
‘‘(b) PRESUMPTION OF REQUEST TO RECEIVE PAY-
MENTS BY ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER.—The recipi-
ent of any class of recurring benefits payments shall be
presumed to have requested that any payment be made
by electronic funds transfer unless a waiver is requested
under subsection (c) by such recipient.
‘‘(c) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of the
Treasury may waive the requirements of subsection
(a) of this section for any group of recipients or
class of payments upon the written request of the
head of an agency under standards prescribed by the
Secretary of the Treasury.
‘‘(2) DELEGATION AUTHORITY.—The Secretary
of the Treasury may delegate the authority to waive
the requirements of subsection (a) with respect to an
individual recipient, or a group of individual recipi-
ents, of any class of recurring Federal payments to
the head of the agency responsible for certifying or
authorizing such payments upon the written request
by such individual recipient or group of recipients.
‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVE
METHOD
OF
PAYMENT.—
Recurring Federal payments with respect to which a
waiver has been granted under paragraph (1) or (2)
shall be paid by any method determined to be appro-
priate by the Secretary of the Treasury.
‘‘(d) TRANSFER
TO
DESIGNATED
INSTITUTIONS
CONSTITUTES FULL PAYMENT.—The crediting of the
amount of a payment to the appropriate accounts on the
books of the financial institutions designated by the pay-
ment recipient under this section shall constitute a com-
plete payment to the United States for the amount of the
payment.
‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graphs (2) and (3), the Secretary of the Treasury
shall prescribe regulations for all agencies in carry-
ing out this section.
‘‘(2) SENATE.—The Secretary of the Senate
shall prescribe regulations for the Senate in carrying
out this section.
‘‘(3) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.—With the
approval of the Committee on House Administration
of the House of Representatives, the Director of
Nonlegislative and Financial Services of the House
of Representatives shall prescribe regulations for the
House in carrying out this section.’’.
SEC. 2. CLERICAL AMENDMENT.
Chapter 33 of title 31, United States Code, is amend-
ed by striking the item relating to section 3332 and insert-
ing the following new item:
‘‘3332. Required and presumed direct deposit.’’.
Æ