FAIR Act

Bill: 118-s-5420
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA]
Introduced: 2024-12-04
Policy area: Economics and Public Finance
Latest action: action_date: 2024-12-04
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget.

Summaries:
action_date: 2024-12-04
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><strong>Fiscal Analysis by Income and Race Scoring Act or the FAIR Act</strong></p><p>This bill requires the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO's) cost estimates for legislation to include a distributional analysis by race and income if the legislation will have a gross budgetary effect of at least 0.1% of gross domestic product in any fiscal year within the budget window (usually 10 years).&nbsp;</p><p>CBO's analysis must show the transfers that would result by race and income level, and the effects must be shown both in dollars and as a percent change in after-tax-and-transfer-income.</p><p>The bill also requires CBO to report to Congress on methods for conducting such a distributional analysis by gender.</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5420 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 4, 2024 Ms. Warren introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Budget A BILL To amend the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 by requiring a distribution analysis of a bill or resolution under certain circumstances, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fiscal Analysis by Income and Race Scoring Act or the FAIR Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Wealth inequality is steadily rising in the United States, and, as the disparities between the richest Americans and the poorest Americans widen, White Americans have grown disproportionately wealthier, while the median wealth of Black Americans has stagnated. (2) In 1968, and with the amounts adjusted for inflation, the median middle-class Black household had $6,674 in wealth, while the median middle-class White household had $70,786 in wealth, and in 2016, the median middle-class Black household had $13,024 in wealth compared to $149,703 for the median White household. (3) As of 2019, the typical White family has 8 times the wealth of the typical Black family and 5 times the wealth of the typical Hispanic family. (4) As of 2019, White families have the highest level of both median and mean wealth at $188,200 and $983,400, respectively, while Black and Hispanic families have considerably less wealth than White families, with Black families having a median and mean wealth of less than 15 percent of the median and mean wealth of White families, at $24,100 and $142,500, respectively, and Hispanic families having a median and mean wealth of $36,100 and $165,500, respectively. (5) In 2023, the median annual income for households led by Asian Americans was $112,200, compared with $89,050 for non-Hispanic White-led households, $56,490 for Black-led households, and $65,540 for Hispanic-led households. (6) As of the second quarter of 2024, the median usual weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers for White workers were roughly 24 percent more than for Black workers and roughly 29 percent more than for Hispanic workers. (7) As of the second quarter of 2024, women earned roughly 81 cents for every dollar paid to men, as measured by median usual weekly earnings for full time wage and salary workers, and for every dollar paid to White men, Black women earned roughly 71 cents, and Hispanic women earned roughly 65 cents. (8) Different groups within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community have unique experiences with economic discrimination. For example, between 2015 and 2019, Hmong women earned 60 cents for every dollar paid to White men. (9) Disparities in wealth between genders are even more stark. As of 2022, the median net worth for female-led households was $58,080, whereas male-led households had a median net worth of $82,200, and a study from 2013 showed that single Black women and single Hispanic women had a median wealth averaging less than a penny for every dollar of wealth owned by single White non-Hispanic men. (10) Informed and well-designed policies are needed to curb the growing inequality between Americans of different races and income levels, and in order to meet this need, Congress needs access to standardized, reliable information about the socioeconomic consequences of the legislation it enacts. 3. Distribution analysis by income and race (a) CBO estimates Section 402 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 ( 2 U.S.C. 653 ) is amended— (1) in paragraph (2), by striking and at the end; (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; (3) by inserting after paragraph (3), and before the flush text, the following: (4) for a bill or joint resolution that has a gross budgetary effect of at least 0.1 percent of the gross domestic product of the United States in any fiscal year within the budget window— (A) a distribution analysis by income showing the transfers that would result in dollars and as a percent change in after-tax-and-transfer income for as many years in the budget as is necessary to illustrate the anticipated effects; and (B) a distribution analysis by race showing the transfers that would result in dollars and as a percent change in after-tax-and-transfer income for as many years in the budget as is necessary to illustrate the anticipated effects. ; and (4) in the flush text following paragraph (4), as added by paragraph (3) of this subsection, by striking and description and inserting description, and analyses . (b) JCT estimates Section 201(f) of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 ( 2 U.S.C. 601(f) ) is amended— (1) by inserting and distribution analyses after revenue estimates each place the term appears; and (2) in the last sentence, by striking The Budget Committees of the Senate and the House and inserting The Committee on the Budget of the Senate and the Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives . 4. Report on distribution analysis by gender Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office shall— (1) prepare a report describing methods appropriate for conducting distribution analyses by gender for major legislation, including strengths and weaknesses of different approaches; and (2) submit such report to the chairs and ranking members of the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives .