I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6012 
To require the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 
to establish a grant program to facilitate financial literacy programs, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2020 
Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia (for himself, Mr. STIVERS, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. 
HILL of Arkansas, Ms. DEAN, and Mr. LOUDERMILK) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To require the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection to establish a grant program to facilitate fi-
nancial literacy programs, 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. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consumer Financial 
Education and Empowerment Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINANCIAL LITERACY GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bu-
reau of Consumer Financial Protection shall establish a 
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program to award grants on a competitive basis to eligible 
entities to facilitate financial literacy programs as de-
scribed in subsection (d). 
(b) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible to 
be awarded a grant under the program established under 
subsection (a), an eligible entity shall submit an applica-
tion to the Director at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Director may require, 
including information on— 
(1) the curriculum and design of the financial 
literacy program proposed by the eligible entity, in-
cluding a description of how such program meets the 
requirements of subsection (d); 
(2) expected participants in the proposed finan-
cial literacy program; 
(3) who is expected to be employed or otherwise 
involved with the proposed financial literacy pro-
gram, including— 
(A) administrators; 
(B) consultants; and 
(C) financial advisors; and 
(4) a prospective budget for the proposed finan-
cial literacy program. 
(c) GRANTS.— 
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(1) AMOUNTS.—The Director shall determine 
the amount of each grant awarded under the pro-
gram established under subsection (a). 
(2) TERM.—A grant awarded under the pro-
gram established under subsection (a) shall be for a 
term of 12 months. 
(3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding grants 
under the program established under subsection (a), 
the Director may consider whether the proposed fi-
nancial literacy program of an applicant would ad-
dress the types of abuse that result in a penalty 
being deposited into the Consumer Financial Civil 
Penalty Fund established under section 1017(d) of 
the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 
Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5497(d)). 
(4) RENEWAL.—An eligible entity may apply to 
renew a grant awarded under the program estab-
lished under subsection (a) by submitting to the Di-
rector a simplified renewal application that shall re-
ceive expedited review. 
(5) BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTEC-
TION
ANNUAL
FINANCIAL
LITERACY
REPORT.—In 
awarding grants under this section, the Director 
shall consider information provided by the annual re-
port that is required under section 1013(d)(4) of the 
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Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Pro-
tection Act (12 U.S.C. 5493(d)(4)). 
(d) FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAM DESCRIBED.— 
A financial literacy program described in this subsection 
is a program that provides the following: 
(1) Instruction to participants, including indi-
viduals who provide instruction with respect to fi-
nancial literacy education, on one or more of the fol-
lowing: 
(A) Personal financial wellness. 
(B) Credit and alternatives to credit. 
(C) Management of student loan debt. 
(D) Financial counseling for individuals 
who seek to attend a college, university, or vo-
cational school. 
(E) Preparation for homeownership. 
(F) Basic investing. 
(G) Financial saving, planning, and man-
agement. 
(H) Tax planning. 
(I) Personal information security. 
(J) Preparation for retirement. 
(K) Entrepreneurship assistance or assist-
ance in starting a business. 
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(L) Other topics as determined by the Di-
rector. 
(2) An in-person instruction component that— 
(A) may be provided as a webinar, an in- 
classroom experience, or one-on-one financial 
coaching; 
(B) includes— 
(i) live, real-time instruction; and 
(ii) an opportunity for students to en-
gage with an instructor; and 
(C) is not primarily comprised of self- 
taught instruction. 
(e) FUNDING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall, in ac-
cordance with section 1017(d) of the Dodd-Frank 
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 
(12 U.S.C. 5497(d)), use amounts in the Consumer 
Financial Civil Penalty Fund to carry out this Act. 
(2) AMOUNTS.—To carry out this Act, the Di-
rector shall use until expended not less than— 
(A) in fiscal year 2021, $50,000,000; and 
(B) in each allocation period starting after 
fiscal year 2021, the lessor of— 
(i) $25,000,000; or 
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(ii) after allocation to victims has 
been determined for the prior allocation 
period, 50 percent of the remaining 
amounts collected during the prior alloca-
tion period. 
(3) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
1017(d)(2) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 
and 
Consumer 
Protection 
Act 
(12 
U.S.C. 
5497(d)(2)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘, the Bureau may use’’ 
and inserting ‘‘, the Bureau— 
‘‘(A) may use’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘programs.’’ and inserting 
‘‘programs; and’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) shall use such funds for the grant 
program established by the Consumer Financial 
Education and Empowerment Act.’’. 
(f) FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION COMMIS-
SION REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the Director 
establishes the program under subsection (a), and every 
5 years thereafter, the Financial Literacy and Education 
Commission shall submit to Congress and the Director a 
report that provides recommendations on how to improve 
such program. 
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(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ALLOCATION PERIOD.—The term ‘‘alloca-
tion period’’ means the biannual allocation period of 
funds to a class of victims that occurs according to 
the 
schedule 
established 
pursuant 
to 
section 
1075.105(b) of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations 
(or any successor regulation). 
(2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Financial Literacy and Education Com-
mission, established under title V of the Fair and 
Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (20 
U.S.C. 9701 et seq.). 
(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection. 
(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means— 
(A) a State government, local government, 
or agency of a State or local government; or 
(B) a nonprofit organization that— 
(i) has knowledge of personal financial 
management; 
(ii) has experience providing financial 
education; and 
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(iii) has a history of achieving goals 
and objectives of financial literacy pro-
grams. 
(5) NONPROFIT
ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization that 
is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)) and is ex-
empt from taxation under section 501(a) of such 
Code. 
(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each 
State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 
each territory or possession of the United States, 
and each federally recognized Indian Tribe. 
Æ 
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