,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #fhej  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #ac1 #bjbj,mr4  
,meeks 7for himself1 ,ms4 ,pressley1 and
 ,ms4 ,waters7 introduced the following 
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,ways and ,means1 and in  
addition to the ,committee on ,financial
 ,services1 for a period to be          
subsequently determined by the ,speaker1
 in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the           
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to protect stimulus checks  
from garnishment and fees and from being
 used as an offset by a credit union or 
depository institution1 and for other   
purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act  
have been cited as the ,protect our     
,checks ,act of #bjbj4  #b4 ,protecting 
stimulus checks from garnishment and    
fees  7a7 ,protection of #bjbj recovery 
rebates  7#a7 ,in general ,section      
#bbja7;d7 of the ,,cares ,act 7,public  
,law #aaf-acf7 is amended-- 7,a7 by     

redesignating paragraphs 7#a71 7#b71 and
 7#c7 as subparagraphs 7,a71 7,b71 and  
7,c71 and by moving such subparagraphs  
#b ems to the right2  7,b7 in the       
heading1 by striking reduction or offset
 and inserting reduction1 offset1       
garnishment1 etc42  7,c7 by striking    
,any credit and inserting the following3
  7#a7 ,in general ,any credit  2 and   
7,d7 by adding at the end the following 
new paragraphs3  7#b7 ,assignment of    
benefits  7,a7 ,in general ,the right of
 any person to any applicable payment   
shall not be transferable or assignable1
 at law or in equity1 and no applicable 
payment shall be subject to execution1  
levy1 attachment1 garnishment1 or other 
legal process or the operation of any   
bankruptcy or insolvency law4  7,b7     
,encoding of payments ,as soon as       
practicable1 in the case of an          
applicable payment that is paid         
electronically by direct deposit through
 the ,automated ,clearing ,house 7,,ach7
 network1 the ,secretary of the         

,treasury shall issue the payment using 
a unique identifier that is reasonably  
sufficient to allow a financial         
institution to identify the payment as a
 payment protected under subparagraph   
7,a74 ,the ,secretary shall further     
encode the payment pursuant to the same 
specifications as required for a benefit
 payment 7as defined in section #bab4c  
of section #ca1 ,code of ,federal       
,regulations74  7,c7 ,garnishment  7i7  
,encoded payments ,upon receipt of a    
garnishment order that applies to an    
account that has received an applicable 
payment that is encoded as provided in  
subparagraph 7,b71 a financial          
institution shall follow the            
requirements and procedures set forth in
 part #bab of title #ca1 ,code of       
,federal ,regulations1 except a         
financial institution shall not1 with   
regard to any applicable payment1 be    
required to provide the notice          
referenced in section #bab4f or #bab4g  
of such title #ca4 ,this paragraph shall

 not alter the status of payments as tax
 refunds or other nonbenefit payments   
for purpose of any reclamation rights of
 the ,department of ,treasury or the    
,internal ,revenue ,service as per part 
#baj of such title #ca4  7ii7 ,other    
payments ,if a financial institution    
receives a garnishment order1 other than
 an order that has been served by the   
,united ,states1 that applies to an     
account into which an applicable payment
 that has not been encoded as provided  
in subparagraph 7,b7 has been deposited 
electronically or by check on any date  
in the lookback period1 the financial   
institution1 upon the request of the    
account holder1 shall treat the amount  
of the funds in the account at the time 
of the request1 up to the amount of the 
applicable payment1 as exempt under law 
from a garnishment order without        
requiring the consent of the party      
serving the garnishment order or the    
judgment creditor4  7iii7 ,liability ,a 
financial institution that acts in good 

faith in reliance on clause 7i7 or 7ii7 
shall not be subject to liability or    
regulatory action under any ,federal or 
,state law1 regulation1 court or other  
order1 or regulatory interpretation for 
actions concerning any applicable       
payments4  7,d7 ,definitions ,for       
purposes of this paragraph3 7i7 ,account
 holder ,the term account holder means a
 natural person whose name appears in a 
financial institution's records as the  
direct or beneficial owner of an        
account4  7ii7 ,account review ,the term
 account review means the process of    
examining deposits in an account to     
determine if an applicable payment has  
been deposited into the account during  
the lookback period4 ,a financial       
institution shall perform an account    
review following the procedures outlined
 in section #bab4e of title #ca1 ,code  
of ,federal ,regulations1 and in        
accordance with the requirements of     
section #bab4f of such title #ca4  7iii7
 ,applicable payment ,the term          

applicable payment means any payment of 
credit or refund by reason of section   
#fdbh of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of
 #aihf or subsection 7c74  7iv7         
,garnishment ,the term garnishment means
 execution1 levy1 attachment1           
garnishment1 or other legal process4    
7v7 ,garnishment order ,the term        
garnishment order means a writ1 order1  
notice1 summons1 judgment1 levy1 or     
similar written instruction issued by a 
court1 a ,state or ,state agency1 or a  
municipality or municipal corporation to
 effect a garnishment against a debtor4 
7vi7 ,lookback period ,the term lookback
 period means the two month period that 
begins on the date preceding the date of
 an account review and ends on the      
corresponding date of the month two     
months earlier1 or on the last date of  
the month two months earlier if the     
corresponding date does not exist4  4   
7#b7 ,effective date  7,a7 ,in general  
,section #bbja7;d77#b7 of the ,,cares   
,act1 as added by subsection 7a71 shall 

take effect upon enactment4  7,b7       
,exception ,notwithstanding paragraph   
7#a71 clauses 7i7 and 7ii7 of section   
#bbja7;d77#b77;,c7 of the ,,cares ,act1 
as added by subsection 7a71 shall take  
effect after the end of the #aj-;day    
period beginning on the date of         
enactment of this ,act4  7b7            
,prohibition on use of ,,covid-#ai      
stimulus payments as offset by credit   
unions and depository institutions  7#a7
 ,in general ,a credit union or         
depository institution may not offset or
 seize a ,,covid-#ai stimulus payment to
 pay any amount due1 or allegedly due1  
to the credit union or depository       
institution4  7#b7 ,encoding of payments
 ,as soon as practicable1 in the case of
 a ,,covid-#ai stimulus payment that is 
paid electronically by direct deposit   
through the ,automated ,clearing ,house 
7,,ach7 network1 the ,secretary of the  
,treasury shall issue a ,,covid-#ai     
stimulus payment using a unique         
identifier that is reasonably sufficient

 to allow a credit union or depository  
institution to identify the payment as a
 payment protected under paragraph 7#a74
  7#c7 ,definitions ,in this subsection3
 7,a7 ,,covid-#ai stimulus payment ,the 
term ,,covid-#ai stimulus payment means 
any payment made pursuant to section    
#fdbh of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of
 #aihf or section #bbja7;c7 of the      
,,cares ,act4  7,b7 ,credit union ,the  
term credit union means a ,federal      
credit union and a ,state credit union1 
as such terms are defined1 respectively1
 under section #aja of the ,federal     
,credit ,union ,act4  7,c7 ,depository  
institution ,the term depository        
institution has the meaning given that  
term under section #c of the ,federal   
,deposit ,insurance ,act4