The Recognizing Poverty Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5069 To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop for consideration of the Congress a poverty line for purposes of the Commu- nity Services Block Grant Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 13, 2019 Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ (for herself, Ms. MENG, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. MOORE, Ms. TLAIB, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, and Ms. LEE of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop for consideration of the Congress a poverty line for purposes of the Community Services Block Grant Act, 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 ‘‘The Recognizing Pov- 4 erty Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Nov 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5069.IH H5069 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5069 IH SEC. 2. ASSESSMENT OF THE ADEQUACY OF THE POVERTY 1 LINE; DEVELOPMENT OF POVERTY LINE. 2 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary of Health and 3 Human Services, in collaboration with the Bureau of the 4 Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shall make 5 a contract with the Committee on National Statistics of 6 the National Academy of Sciences to assess the adequacy 7 of the poverty line (as defined in section 673(2) of the 8 Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9 9902(2))) as a measure of the resources families need to 10 afford basic goods and services. 11 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF POVERTY LINE.—The Sec- 12 retary of Health and Human Services, in collaboration 13 with the Bureau of the Census and the Bureau of Labor 14 Statistics, shall make a contract with the Committee on 15 National Statistics of the National Academy of Sciences 16 to propose a poverty guide for purposes of section 673(2) 17 of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 18 9902(2)) that accounts for an up-to-date adequate family 19 income level. Such poverty line shall be developed for ref- 20 erence family consisting of 2 adults and their 2 related 21 children and shall be an amount equal to the income that 22 would be sufficient to make ends meet, accounting for ex- 23 penditures on food, clothing, shelter, utilities, ‘‘new neces- 24 sities’’ such as internet, and other needs identified, modi- 25 fied as follows: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Nov 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5069.IH H5069 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5069 IH (1) Adjusted for family size using the best 1 available equivalence scales that consider economies 2 of scale. 3 (2) Adjusted for differences in the cost of goods 4 and services among States, sub-State non-metropoli- 5 tan areas, and metropolitan areas based on the best 6 available data. 7 (3) Adjusted to account for data on levels of 8 spending on goods and services in prior years and 9 adjusted for cost changes from said prior years to 10 the current year. 11 (4) Increased for needs related to health insur- 12 ance for family members, work expenses for the fam- 13 ily, and child care needs for each child under the age 14 of 13 in the family, including identification and con- 15 sideration of ‘‘new necessities’’ such as internet ac- 16 cess and funds needed to secure children’s equal 17 educational opportunity. 18 Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, 19 the poverty line proposed under this subsection shall not 20 be less than the poverty line then in effect under such sec- 21 tion. 22 (c) REQUIRED FACTORS.—For purposes of sub- 23 section (b), the Secretary shall consider— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Nov 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5069.IH H5069 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5069 IH (1) relevant empirical data on prevalence at 1 various income levels of material hardships such as 2 food— 3 (A) insecurity, 4 (B) falling behind on rent, mortgage, or 5 utility bills, eviction or overcrowding, and 6 (C) experiencing homelessness or living 7 doubled up in another person’s home, 8 (2) past Lower Living Standards implemented 9 by the Department of Labor, 10 (3) the supplemental poverty measure of the 11 Bureau of the Census, 12 (4) the Self Sufficiency Standards initially de- 13 veloped by Diana Pearce and Wider Opportunities 14 for Women, 15 (5) the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and 16 Program Participation, and 17 (6) other standards of income adequacy created 18 by experts and public commissions. 19 (d) PUBLICATION.—The poverty line proposed under 20 this section shall be updated and published annually. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Nov 26, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5069.IH H5069 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS