Consumer Financial Education and Empowerment Act
Bill: H.R.9272 | Sponsor: Rep. Scott, David (D-GA)
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Consumer Financial Education and Empowerment Act
This bill establishes within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a program to award allocations to state governments, local governments, and other entities for financial literacy programs. Programs eligible for awards may include education regarding credit, student loan debt, homeownership, investments, retirement, or tax planning.

To establish an award allocation to facilitate financial literacy 
                   programs, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 AWARD ALLOCATION PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 
U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 1037 the 
following:

``SEC. 1038. FINANCIAL LITERACY AWARD ALLOCATION PROGRAM.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Director shall establish award 
allocations for financial literacy and consumer education programs on a 
competitive basis to eligible entities as described in subsection (d).
    ``(b) Application Requirements.--To be eligible for an award 
allocation under the program established under subsection (a), an 
eligible entity shall submit an application 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, including a 
        description of how such program meets the requirements of 
        subsection (d);
            ``(2) expected participants in the proposed program;
            ``(3) who is expected to be employed or otherwise involved 
        with the proposed program, including--
                    ``(A) administrators;
                    ``(B) consultants; and
                    ``(C) financial advisors; and
            ``(4) a prospective budget for the proposed financial 
        literacy program.
    ``(c) Award Allocation.--
            ``(1) Amounts.--The Director shall determine the amount of 
        each award allocation under the program established under 
        subsection (a).
            ``(2) Multiyear award allocations.--The Director may not 
        award more than 5 consecutive award allocations to an eligible 
        entity based on a single application.
    ``(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 individuals 
        who provide instruction with respect to financial literacy 
        education, on one or more of the following:
                    ``(A) Personal financial wellness.
                    ``(B) Credit and alternatives to credit.
                    ``(C) Management of student loan debt.
                    ``(D) Preparation for homeownership.
                    ``(E) Basic investing.
                    ``(F) Financial saving, planning, and management.
                    ``(G) Tax planning.
                    ``(H) Personal information security.
                    ``(I) Preparation for household changes, including 
                merging assets after marriage and preparing for costs 
                associated with children.
                    ``(J) Other topics as determined by the Director.
            ``(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 
                        engage with an instructor; and
                    ``(C) is not primarily comprised of self-taught 
                instruction.
    ``(e) Funding.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Director shall, in accordance with 
        section 1017(d), use amounts in the Consumer Financial Civil 
        Penalty Fund to carry out this section.
            ``(2) Amounts.--To carry out this section, the Director 
        shall use not more than--
                    ``(A) in fiscal year 2026, $30,000,000;
                    ``(B) in each allocation period starting after 
                fiscal year 2026, the lessor of--
                            ``(i) $15,000,000; or
                            ``(ii) 20 percent of the amount remaining 
                        in the Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund 
                        after allocation to victims has been determined 
                        for the prior allocation period; and
                    ``(C) in any allocation period with respect to 
                which the amount in the Consumer Financial Civil 
                Penalty Fund decreased during the prior allocation 
                period, 1 percent of the amount remaining in the 
                Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund after allocation 
                to victims has been determined for the prior allocation 
                period.
    ``(f) Initial Study.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this section, the Director shall conduct a study 
        on the financial literacy education needs of expected 
        participants of the financial literacy programs facilitated by 
        this section.
            ``(2) Findings.--The findings of the study required under 
        paragraph (1) may be used to inform the award allocations by 
        the program established under subsection (a).
    ``(g) Financial Literacy and Education Commission Report.--Not 
later than 2 years after the Director establishes the program under 
subsection (a), the Financial Literacy and Education Commission shall 
submit to Congress and the Director a report that provides 
recommendations on improving the program.
    ``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Allocation period.--The term `allocation 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) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity'--
                    ``(A) means--
                            ``(i) a State government, local government, 
                        or agency of a State or local government; and
                            ``(ii) other entities that the Director may 
                        identify, including those that have--
                                    ``(I) experience with financial 
                                management;
                                    ``(II) a history of achieving goals 
                                and objectives of financial literacy 
                                programs;
                                    ``(III) expertise in financial 
                                education; or
                                    ``(IV) expertise in providing 
                                financial education instruction; and
                    ``(B) does not include any entity if the entity, or 
                a subsidiary or affiliate of the entity, has been found 
                to have violated any Federal consumer financial law.
            ``(3) 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.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 
Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5497(d)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in the table of contents, by inserting after the item 
        relating to section 1037 the following:

``Sec. 1038. Financial literacy award allocation program.'';
        and
            (2) in section 1017(d)(2)--
                    (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 award allocation 
                program established under section 1038.''.
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