H.R. 3159, Improving SCRA Benefit Utilization Act

H.R. 3159 would require the Department of Defense (DoD) to notify members of the reserve components of the armed forces about benefits under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) whenever they are activated for more than 30 days. Under current law, DoD notifies people about those benefits when they begin service in the armed forces. Because DoD already communicates with reservists and provides similar notifications, CBO expects that any additional notifications would increase spending by less than $500,000 over the 2026‑2036 period. Such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.

The bill also would require DoD to inform service members about consumer financial protections under the SCRA, including interest rate limitations. DoD currently provides financial literacy training, including information concerning consumer protections and SCRA limits on interest rates. Consequently, CBO estimates that the department satisfies that requirement under current law.

Lastly, the bill would expand the application of the interest rate limitation that creditors must comply with for debts incurred by service members under the SCRA. Because those consumer protections affect private entities rather than the federal government, CBO estimates that the expansion of the interest rate limit would not affect the federal budget.

H.R. 3159 would impose a private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) on creditors by increasing their administrative duties under SCRA. Under current law, creditors must limit the interest rate on pre-service obligations and liabilities of a service member held by the creditor upon written notification from the service member. While some creditors only limit rates on accounts specifically listed by the service member, others apply the limitation to all eligible accounts held by the creditor. Under the bill, creditors would be required to apply this limitation on all accounts of the service member held by the creditor, not just those specifically mentioned in the notice. The bill also would require creditors to accept a service member’s notification online, by mail, or by fax.

Although the bill may result in creditors implementing interest rate limitations on more debt held by the creditor, the bill would not change the types of debt that are eligible for interest rate limits under SCRA. CBO estimates that the cost of implementing the administrative changes required by the bill would be small and below the threshold for private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA ($214 million in 2026, adjusted annually for inflation).

The bill would not impose intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Paul B.A. Holland (for federal costs) and Brandon Lever (for mandates). The estimate was reviewed by Chad Chirico, Director of Budget Analysis.