Bill Details
S.490 - 119th Congress
Status
Latest action
2025-02-06 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S796-797)
Introduced Date
2025-02-06
Policy Area
Taxation
Committees
View committees (1)
Cosponsors
7
0
0
AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This bill would make it illegal for certain people to access or control the Treasury Department’s central payment systems unless they are properly authorized. Its main goal is to protect government payment systems and taxpayer information from misuse, especially by people who are not allowed to handle them because of conflicts of interest, weak ethics safeguards, or limited government service. It also gives people who are harmed by an unauthorized access the right to sue for money damages and other relief.
- It bans unauthorized access to public money receipt or payment systems, including systems run by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service or any successor agency.
- The ban applies to people who are not federal employees, some federal contractors, certain federal employees in top roles at covered entities, recent federal employees with less than one year of continuous service, and some covered employees with conflicts of interest or no signed ethics agreement.
- Anyone harmed by a violation could bring a civil lawsuit and seek court orders, damages, punitive damages, and lawyer’s fees. Damages could be the actual losses or $250,000 for each unauthorized access, whichever is greater.
- The bill also says taxpayer return information cannot be disclosed through these payment systems to the listed employees, and it creates a right to sue for improper inspection or disclosure of tax information, with damages based on $250,000 in some cases.
Official Summaries
Protecting Americans’ Privacy Act of 2025
This bill makes it unlawful for certain individuals to access or exercise administrative control over any Department of the Treasury public money receipt or payment system. The bill also makes it unlawful to disclose return or return information to certain individuals by means of access to such Treasury system.
Under the bill, it is unlawful for an individual to knowingly access or exercise administrative control over any Treasury (including the Bureau of Fiscal Service) public money receipt or payment system if the individual is
- not a federal employee or federal contractor (with at least one year of continuous service);
- a federal employee who holds a certain position within or is the board member of a business, organization, or institution;
- in a civil service position for less than one year (continuously); or
- an employee who meets certain other requirements and who has a conflict of interest or has not signed a written ethics agreement.
The bill also makes it unlawful to (1) facilitate access to or administrative control over any Treasury public money receipt or payment system to such individuals, or (2) disclose return or return information to such individuals by means of access to such Treasury system.
Finally, the bill provides that persons harmed by the unlawful access to such Treasury system may file a civil action for
- preliminary and other equitable or declaratory relief,
- damages (the greater of $250,000 or actual damages),
- punitive damages, and
- attorney’s fees and litigation costs.
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 490 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 490
To provide that unauthorized access to the central payment systems of
the Bureau of the Fiscal Service is unlawful.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 6 (legislative day, February 5), 2025
Mr. Schumer (for himself, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Warren, Mr. Peters, Mrs.
Murray, and Mr. Warner) introduced the following bill; which was read
twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide that unauthorized access to the central payment systems of
the Bureau of the Fiscal Service is unlawful.
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 ``Protecting Americans' Privacy Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO THE CENTRAL PAYMENT SYSTEMS OF THE
BUREAU OF THE FISCAL SERVICE.
(a) Prohibitions.--
(1) In general.--It shall be unlawful for an individual to
knowingly access or exercise administrative control over any
public money receipt or payment system of the Department of the
Treasury (including any payment system of the Bureau of the
Fiscal Service (or any successor thereof)) if the individual--
(A) is not--
(i) a Federal employee; or
(ii) a Federal contractor whose current
continuous service in a position on an agency's
contract, as of the date of such access, is for
a period of at least 1 year;
(B) is a Federal employee--
(i) who is employed as the chief executive
officer, chief financial officer, chief
operating officer, or a position of similar
stature at a covered entity;
(ii) who serves on the Board of Directors
of a covered entity;
(iii) who has control over a covered
entity; or
(iv) whose current continuous service in a
position in the civil service (as that term is
defined in section 2101 of title 5, United
States Code), as of the date of such access, is
for a period of less than 1 year; or
(C) is a covered employee who--
(i) has a conflict of interest as described
in section 208 of title 18, United States Code,
with respect to such central payment system, or
(ii) has not signed a written ethics
agreement with either the covered employee's
respective agency or the Office of Government
Ethics.
(2) Facilitation of access.--It shall be unlawful for an
individual to facilitate access to or the exercise of
administrative control over any such public money receipt or
payment system, or to knowingly permit such access or exercise
of control, which such individual knows or should know is in
violation of paragraph (1).
(b) Enforcement by Individuals.--
(1) In general.--Any persons harmed by a violation of
subsection (a) may file a civil action in any district court of
the United States or State court of general jurisdiction to
recover from the individual who engaged in the violation
appropriate relief described in paragraph (2).
(2) Relief.--In an action under this subsection,
appropriate relief includes--
(A) preliminary and other equitable or declaratory
relief, as appropriate;
(B) damages as described in paragraph (3);
(C) punitive damages, as appropriate; and
(D) reasonable attorney's fees and other reasonable
litigation costs.
(3) Damages.--In an action under this subsection, a court
may assess as damages an amount equal to the greater of--
(A) the sum of the actual damages suffered by the
plaintiff; or
(B) $250,000 for each unauthorized access relating
to the plaintiff.
(4) Joint and several liability.--Any individual who
violates subsection (a)(1) and any individual who violates
subsection (a)(2) shall be jointly and severally liable to the
extent such violations relate to the same access.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Agency.--The term ``agency''--
(A) has the meaning given the term ``Executive
agency'' in section 105 of title 5, United States Code;
and
(B) includes each component of the Executive Office
of the President, including each such component
established under title 3, United States Code.
(2) Control.--The term ``control'' means, with respect to
an entity--
(A) ownership of, or the power to vote, more than
50 percent of the outstanding shares of any class of
voting security of the entity;
(B) control over the election of a majority of the
directors of the entity (or of individuals exercising
similar functions); or
(C) the power to exercise a controlling influence
over the management of the entity.
(3) Covered employee.--The term ``covered employee''
includes the following individuals:
(A) Each individual who is--
(i) a noncareer employee; and
(ii) described in any of paragraphs (3)
through (8) of section 13103(f) of title 5,
United States Code.
(B) Each individual serving in a position with
respect to which a determination has been made under
section 7511(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code.
(C) Each special Government employee, as defined in
section 202(a) of title 18, United States Code.
(4) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means a
corporation (and the subsidiaries it controls), company,
association, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company,
or any other organization or institution, including an
organization described in section 501(c) of the Internal
Revenue Code.
(5) Federal contractor.--The term ``Federal contractor''
means an individual, other than a Federal employee, working
under a contract with an agency.
(6) Federal employee.--The term ``Federal employee'' means
an individual employed by or holding office in an agency.
(7) Noncareer employee.--The term ``noncareer employee''
means an individual who is--
(A) serving in a position to which the President
appointed the individual (without regard to whether the
advice and consent of the Senate was required with
respect to that appointment), other than an individual
who is--
(i) a member of a uniformed service, as
that term is defined in section 210(m) of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 410(m)); or
(ii) a member of the Foreign Service
serving under a career appointment, as
described in section 301 of the Foreign Service
Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3941);
(B) a noncareer appointee, as that term is defined
in section 3132(a) of title 5, United States Code;
(C) serving in a position in a Federal executive
system (other than the Senior Executive Service
established under subchapter II of chapter 31 of title
5, United States Code), if appointment to the position
is not made through merit-based procedures; or
(D) serving in a position with respect to which a
determination has been made under section 7511(b)(2) of
title 5, United States Code.
(d) No Inference.--Nothing in this section shall be construed as
creating any inference as to whether any act which occurred prior to
the enactment of this Act was lawful or otherwise permitted.
SEC. 3. CONFIDENTIALITY OF RETURNS AND RETURN INFORMATION UNDER
INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.
(a) In General.--Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
is amended by redesignating subsection (q) as subsection (r) and by
inserting after subsection (p) the following new subsection:
``(q) Prohibition on Disclosure to Certain Employees.--
Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no return or
return information shall be disclosed by means of access to any public
money receipt or payment system of the Department of the Treasury
(including any payment system of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (or
any successor thereof)) to any individual described in subparagraph (B)
or (C) of section 2(a)(1) of the Protecting Americans' Privacy Act of
2025.''.
(b) Civil Damages for Unauthorized Inspection or Disclosure.--
(1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 7431 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end
the following new paragraph:
``(3) Inspection or disclosure by certain employees.--If
any individual described in subparagraph (B) or (C) of section
2(a)(1) of the Protecting Americans' Privacy Act of 2025
knowingly, or by reason of negligence, inspects or discloses
any return or return information with respect to a taxpayer in
violation of section 6103(q), such taxpayer may bring a civil
action for damages against such person in a district court of
the United States. In any action brought under this paragraph,
subsection (c)(1)(A) shall be applied by substituting
`$250,000' for `$1,000'.''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--Paragraph (1) of section 7431(a)
of such Code is amended by striking ``If any'' in paragraph (1)
and inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (3), if any''.
(c) No Inference.--Nothing in the amendments made by this section
shall be construed as creating any inference as to whether any
disclosure or inspection prior to the enactment of this Act was lawful
or permitted by section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
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