Child Poverty Reduction Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 643 To reduce child poverty in the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 9, 2021 Mr. CASEY (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To reduce child poverty in the United States, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Poverty Reduc- 4 tion Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. CHILD POVERTY GOAL AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 6 Title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 7 et seq.) is amended by inserting after part B the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S643.IS S643 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 643 IS ‘‘PART C—CHILD POVERTY ACCOUNTABILITY 1 MEASURE 2 ‘‘SEC. 441. NATIONAL GOAL TO CUT CHILD POVERTY BY 3 HALF. 4 ‘‘(a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 5 United States to reduce the number of children living in 6 poverty in the United States by half in 10 years. 7 ‘‘(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 8 the Congress that an effort to reach the goal described 9 in subsection (a) shall include reducing the number of chil- 10 dren in deep poverty as well as reducing child poverty 11 among racial or ethnic groups with disparate poverty 12 rates. 13 ‘‘SEC. 442. ESTABLISHMENT OF ANNUAL REPORTING. 14 ‘‘(a) ANCHORED SUPPLEMENTAL POVERTY MEAS- 15 URE.—The Secretary shall enter into an agreement with 16 the Bureau of the Census to report an anchored Supple- 17 mental Poverty Measure for individuals who have not at- 18 tained 18 years of age, annually beginning with calendar 19 year 2021. Beginning with the report for calendar year 20 2022, the report shall be based on poverty thresholds 21 which are adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price 22 Index for all-urban consumers (as published by the De- 23 partment of Labor). This subsection shall not be inter- 24 preted to require or authorize the replacement of any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S643.IS S643 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 643 IS other calculation or measure reported by the Bureau of 1 the Census. 2 ‘‘(b) TIMING OF RELEASE OF CURRENT POPULATION 3 SURVEY ANNUAL SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SUPPLEMENT 4 MICRODATA.—The Bureau of the Census shall release the 5 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic 6 Supplement microdata for each year as a single file con- 7 taining the anchored Supplemental Poverty Measure and 8 any other poverty rates the Bureau of the Census reports. 9 The file shall be released at the same time as the Bureau 10 of the Census report on Income, Poverty, and Health In- 11 surance Coverage in the United States. That report, or 12 companion reports, should include poverty statistics and 13 thresholds for the anchored Supplemental Poverty Meas- 14 ure and any other measures the Bureau of the Census re- 15 ports. 16 ‘‘(c) REPORTING IN RELATION TO THE TERRI- 17 TORIES.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter 19 into an agreement with the Bureau of the Census to 20 develop data to report an anchored Supplemental 21 Poverty Measure for Puerto Rico, Guam, the United 22 States Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Is- 23 lands, and American Samoa, as part of the annual 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S643.IS S643 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 643 IS report required by subsection (a), not later than the 1 close of fiscal year 2023. 2 ‘‘(2) REPORT REQUIRED IF COMPLIANCE IS NOT 3 FEASIBLE.—If the Secretary determines that it will 4 not be feasible to comply with all or part of para- 5 graph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Con- 6 gress, not later than 6 months after the date of the 7 enactment of this section, a report that explains 8 what is not feasible, why it is not feasible, and in- 9 cludes details on what, if anything, would be needed 10 to enable such compliance and by what date compli- 11 ance could be achieved. 12 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF AP- 13 PROPRIATIONS.—To carry out this subsection, there 14 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 15 a total of not more than $2,000,000 for fiscal years 16 2021 through 2023. 17 ‘‘(d) IMPROVING INCOME DATA FOR USE IN ANNUAL 18 REPORTING.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter 20 into an agreement with the Bureau of the Census to 21 develop income data with corrections for under-re- 22 porting of income data for calculating an anchored 23 Supplemental Poverty Measure as part of the annual 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S643.IS S643 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 643 IS report required by subsection (a), not later than the 1 close of fiscal year 2023. 2 ‘‘(2) REPORT REQUIRED IF COMPLIANCE IS NOT 3 FEASIBLE.—If the Secretary determines that it will 4 not be feasible to comply with all or part of para- 5 graph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the Con- 6 gress, not later than 6 months after the date of the 7 enactment of this section, a report that explains 8 what is not feasible, why it is not feasible, and in- 9 cludes details on what, if anything, would be needed 10 to enable such compliance and by what date compli- 11 ance could be achieved. 12 ‘‘SEC. 443. CHILD POVERTY REPORTS. 13 ‘‘(a) ANNUAL REPORTS ON THE EFFECT OF FED- 14 ERAL POLICIES ON CHILD POVERTY IN THE UNITED 15 STATES.—Within 6 months after the date of the enact- 16 ment of this section, the Secretary shall enter into an 17 agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to sub- 18 mit to the Congress annual reports providing an evidence- 19 based, non-partisan analysis of how Federal policies or 20 programs have contributed to meeting the goal set forth 21 in section 441(a), based on their effect on the anchored 22 Supplemental Poverty Measure for children as reported by 23 the Bureau of the Census pursuant to section 442. 24 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF REPORTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S643.IS S643 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 643 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each such report— 1 ‘‘(A) shall analyze how, and the extent to 2 which, Federal policies and programs contribute 3 to meeting the goal referred to in subsection (a) 4 of this section; 5 ‘‘(B) shall take into account the number of 6 children in deep poverty and child poverty 7 among racial or ethnic groups with disparate 8 poverty rates; 9 ‘‘(C) shall attempt to ascertain whether 10 each studied policy or program reduces or in- 11 creases the number of children living in poverty, 12 why the policy or program does so, and the ex- 13 tent to which the policy or program does so; 14 and 15 ‘‘(D) shall include, to the extent feasible, 16 projections on how such policies or programs 17 would affect the number of children living in 18 poverty in future years, which shall be made on 19 the basis of previously released Current Popu- 20 lation Survey Annual Social and Economic Sup- 21 plement data, and adjusted periodically as new 22 estimates from the Bureau of the Census be- 23 come available. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S643.IS S643 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 643 IS ‘‘(2) DATA CORRECTIONS.—Where feasible, 1 each such report shall correct the underlying Cur- 2 rent Population Survey Annual Social and Economic 3 Supplement data, for under-reporting of income and 4 in-kind benefits and shall include estimates using 5 both uncorrected and corrected income data. Be- 6 cause available information with which to produce 7 corrected income data is currently limited and not 8 timely, each such report shall indicate the year to 9 which the corrected income data pertain and other 10 limitations of the data. As soon as corrected income 11 data from the Census Bureau become available 12 under section 442(d), each such report shall use 13 those data. 14 ‘‘(c) FEASIBILITY REVIEW OF STATE AND LOCAL 15 EVIDENCE-BASED POLICIES.—The 1st report under sub- 16 section (a) shall include a review of the feasibility of in- 17 cluding consideration of State and local evidence-based 18 policies or programs in subsequent such reports, and if 19 the review determines that including the consideration is 20 feasible, then each such report shall include an analysis 21 of the additional policies. 22 ‘‘(d) TIMING.—Each report for a year under sub- 23 section (a) shall be made after the report of the United 24 States Census Bureau on Income, Poverty, and Health In- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S643.IS S643 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 643 IS surance Coverage in the United States for the year is re- 1 leased, and— 2 ‘‘(1) in the case of the 1st such report, before 3 the beginning of the 1st calendar year that begins 4 more than 6 months after the date of the enactment 5 of this section; or 6 ‘‘(2) in the case of each subsequent such report, 7 before the end of the year. 8 ‘‘(e) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO- 9 PRIATIONS.—To carry out this section, there are author- 10 ized to be appropriated not more than— 11 ‘‘(1) $1,200,000 for fiscal year 2021; and 12 ‘‘(2) $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 13 through 2030. 14 ‘‘SEC. 444. CHILD POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY CLEAR- 15 INGHOUSE. 16 ‘‘The Secretary shall establish, and annually update, 17 on a website of the Department of Health and Human 18 Services, an online collection of resources related to the 19 national child poverty reduction goal established in section 20 441 of this Act, including— 21 ‘‘(1) the anchored Supplemental Poverty Meas- 22 ure published under section 442 of this Act; 23 ‘‘(2) the reports required by section 443 of this 24 Act; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S643.IS S643 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 643 IS ‘‘(3) the report required by section 3 of the 1 Child Poverty Reduction Act of 2021; 2 ‘‘(4) the report required by section 4 of the 3 Child Poverty Reduction Act of 2021; and 4 ‘‘(5) links to other relevant Federal reports, 5 analyses, evaluations, and resources related to child 6 poverty as determined by the Secretary. 7 ‘‘SEC. 445. DEFINITIONS. 8 ‘‘In this part: 9 ‘‘(1) ANCHORED.—The term ‘anchored’ means 10 fixed at a given point in time, and annually adjusted 11 by a measure reflecting only changes in prices. 12 ‘‘(2) POVERTY.—The term ‘poverty’ means, 13 with respect to an individual or family, that the indi- 14 vidual or family has a total annual income that is 15 less than the anchored Supplemental Poverty thresh- 16 old for the individual or family, as provided in the 17 Bureau of the Census report under section 442. 18 ‘‘(3) DEEP POVERTY.—The term ‘deep poverty’ 19 means, with respect to an individual or family, that 20 the individual or family has a total annual income 21 that is less than 50 percent of the anchored Supple- 22 mental Poverty threshold for the individual or fam- 23 ily, as provided in the Bureau of the Census report 24 under section 442.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S643.IS S643 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 643 IS SEC. 3. UPDATE OF ‘‘A ROADMAP TO REDUCE CHILD POV- 1 ERTY’’. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 36 months after the date 3 of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Health 4 and Human Services shall enter into an agreement with 5 the National Academy of Sciences to revise and update 6 the National Academies report entitled ‘‘A Roadmap to 7 Reduce Child Poverty’’ within 72 months after the date 8 of entry into the agreement. 9 (b) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO- 10 PRIATIONS.—To carry out subsection (a), there are au- 11 thorized to be appropriated not more than $2,200,000. 12 SEC. 4. REPORT ON REDUCING LONG-TERM, INTERGENERA- 13 TIONAL CHILD POVERTY. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 6 months after the date 15 of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Health 16 and Human Services shall enter into an agreement with 17 the National Academy of Sciences to publish, within 36 18 months after the date of entry into the agreement, a re- 19 port on evidence-based policies to reduce long-term, inter- 20 generational child poverty, which report shall build on the 21 National Academies report entitled ‘‘A Roadmap to Re- 22 duce Child Poverty’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S643.IS S643 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 643 IS (b) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO- 1 PRIATIONS.—To carry out subsection (a), there are au- 2 thorized to be appropriated not more than $2,200,000. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:34 Apr 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S643.IS S643 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS