S4478Referred to Committee

Federal Worker Credit Protection Act of 2026

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2026-04-30
Introduced
5
Cosponsors
S
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Mark Kelly
Mark Kelly
Democrat · AZ · Senator
Votes with party: 77.7% (810 recorded votes)
Top industries funding sponsor:
  • Veterans$4,000k

Full profile: /officials/K000377

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (5)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

2026-04-30

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

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Plain-English Summary

During a government shutdown, federal employees stop receiving paychecks even though they're still required to work, which can damage their credit scores if they can't pay bills on time. This legislation would protect federal workers from negative credit consequences during shutdowns by preventing credit reporting agencies from marking missed payments as delinquent and stopping creditors from charging late fees or interest on accounts. The bill aims to ease the financial hardship that thousands of government workers face when their paychecks are delayed through no fault of their own.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Subjects

Finance and Financial Sector

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 4478 Introduced in Senate (IS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4478 To protect the credit of Federal workers during a government shutdown. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 30, 2026 Mr. Kelly (for himself, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Warner, and Ms. Alsobrooks) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To protect the credit of Federal workers during a government shutdown. 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 ``Federal Worker Credit Protection Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON REPORTING ADVERSE ITEMS OF INFORMATION RELATING TO FEDERAL WORKERS DURING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS. (a) In General.--Section 605 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c) is amended-- (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following: ``(9) With respect to a consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p), any item of adverse information related to the debt of Federal workers during a covered period, as those terms are defined in subsection (i).''; and (2) by adding at the end the following: ``(i) Government Shutdowns.-- ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection: ``(A) Covered individual.--The term `covered individual' means an employee of the United States Government or the District of Columbia whose employing agency is subject to a lapse of appropriations. ``(B) Covered period.--The term `covered period' means the period beginning on the date on which there is more than a 24-hour lapse in appropriations and ending on the date that is 30 days after the date on which there is no longer a lapse in appropriations. ``(2) Request to delete.--A consumer reporting agency, upon receiving a direct request from a consumer who is a covered individual during a covered period shall, free of charge, delete information excluded under subsection (a)(9) in the consumer report of the consumer and prohibit the consumer reporting agency from disclosing such information in the consumer report of the consumer to any person requesting the consumer report. ``(3) Notification.--The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall submit to each consumer reporting agency described in section 603(p) a notification of the start and end of a lapse in appropriations impacting covered individuals.''. (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--Section 605(c)(1) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(c)(1)) is amended by striking ``paragraphs (4) and (6)'' and inserting ``paragraphs (4), (6), and (9)''. (c) Effective Date.--This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall apply to a covered period that begins on or after February 1, 2026. <all>
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