,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ecfj  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,december #i1        
#bjai,mrs4 ,beatty introduced the       
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,financial ,services  
,a ,,bill  ,to require the ,board of    
,governors of the ,federal ,reserve     
,system to collect more data on race and
 wealth1 and for other purposes4  #a4   
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,closing the ,racial ,wealth ,gap   
,act of #bjai4  #b4 ,findings ,congress 
finds that3  7#a7 ,between #aihc and    
#bjaf1 the median ,black family saw     
their wealth drop by more than half     
after adjusting for inflation1 compared 
to a #cc percent increase for the median
 ,white household4  7#b7 ,the ,forbes   
#djj richest ,americans own more wealth 
than all ,black households plus a       
quarter of ,latinx households4  7#c7    
,black families are about #bj times more
 likely to have zero or negative wealth 
7#cg percent7 than they are to have #a  

million or more in assets 7#a4i         
percent74  7#d7 ,latinx families are #ad
 times more likely to have zero or      
negative wealth 7#cb4h percent7 than    
they are to reach the millionaire       
threshold 7#b4c percent74  7#e7 ,white  
families are equally likely to have zero
 or negative wealth 7about #ae percent7 
as they are to be a millionaire 7#ae    
percent74  7#f7 ,the rate of home       
ownership for ,black families is the    
same today in #bjai as it was before    
passage of the ,fair ,housing ,act of   
#aifh4  7#g7 ,the racial wealth gap is  
not an accident or the result of        
inadvisable financial choices by people 
of color1 rather it is the result of the
 centuries of policies1 programs1       
,supreme ,court decisions and           
institutional practices that were       
designed to create barriers or to strip 
wealth from people of color4  7#h7      
,adjustments to ,black and ,latinx      
education rates1 homeownership1 savings 
and employment do not greatly reduce the

 racial wealth divide due to the        
structural underpinnings holding the    
racial wealth divide in place4  7#i7 ,to
 understand and address the racial      
wealth gap1 many experts believe we need
 federally funded data collection       
efforts with the ability to disaggregate
 sample sizes by race1 ethnicity1 tribal
 affiliation1 and country of birth4     
7#aj7 ,analytical tools like the ,racial
 ,wealth ,audit from the ,institute on  
,assets and ,social ,policy 7,,iasp7 and
 the ,racial ,equity ,toolkit from the  
,government ,alliance on ,racial ,equity
 7,,gare7 are needed to provide a       
framework to assess how legislation will
 widen or narrow the racial wealth      
divide4  7#aa7 ,changes in individual   
behavior will not close the racial      
wealth divide1 only structural systemic 
policy change4  #c4 ,data collection on 
race and wealth ,section #aj of the     
,federal ,reserve ,act 7#ab ,u4,s4,c4   
#bda et seq47 is amended by inserting   
before paragraph 7#ab7 the following3   

7#aa7 ,data collection on race and      
wealth ,the ,board of ,governors of the 
,federal ,reserve ,system shall1 in     
carrying out any ,survey of ,consumer   
,finances or ,survey of ,household      
,economics and ,decisionmaking1         
including the collection of localized   
data1 collect information on household  
assets and debt disaggregated by        
respondent race1 ethnicity1 tribal      
affiliation1 and ancestral origin4  4