119-s490

[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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