HOPE Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6217 To authorize the establishment of HOPE Account Pilot Projects, HOPE Action Plans Pilot Projects, and competitive grants for pilot projects. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 12, 2020 Mr. MORELLE (for himself and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addi- tion to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Agriculture, Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize the establishment of HOPE Account Pilot Projects, HOPE Action Plans Pilot Projects, and com- petitive grants for pilot projects. 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 ‘‘Health, Opportunity, 4 and Personal Empowerment Act of 2020’’ or ‘‘HOPE Act 5 of 2020’’. 6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 The Congress finds the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Mar 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6217.IH H6217 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6217 IH (1) In 2018, according to the Department of 1 Agriculture, 37,200,000 individuals in the United 2 States (including 11,100,000 children) lived in food 3 insecure households. That equals 1 in 9 individuals 4 and 1 in 7 children. 5 (2) In 2017, according to the Bureau of the 6 Census, 38,100,000 individuals (including 7 13,200,000 children) lived below the Federal poverty 8 line. The majority of these individuals living in pov- 9 erty were working people, children, older individuals, 10 and individuals with disabilities. 11 (3) Many low-income individuals work multiple 12 jobs and, contrary to common misconceptions, if un- 13 employed, they spend a great deal of time looking 14 for work. They often travel by public transportation, 15 laboriously making multiple connections to shuttle 16 between home, work, social service agencies, houses 17 of worship, and grocery stores. For those living in 18 rural and suburban areas far from work and without 19 adequate public transportation they rely upon vehi- 20 cles to get to work, but these are often less reliable 21 secondhand vehicles, that often break down. From 22 traveling greater distances between available jobs 23 and livable areas with affordable housing options, 24 seeking out scarce childcare options that fit a tight 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Mar 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6217.IH H6217 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6217 IH budget and a constrained travel schedule, and caring 1 for elderly parents or grandparents because a senior 2 living facility is not financially realistic, low-income 3 individuals have little spare time. 4 (4) While government safety net programs help 5 tens of million of individuals avoid starvation, home- 6 lessness, and other outcomes even more dreadful 7 than everyday poverty, there are significant obstacles 8 that those seeking and maintaining government as- 9 sistance face for as long as they are eligible. Quali- 10 fied applicants are often required to travel signifi- 11 cant distances to multiple government offices, pre- 12 paring and submitting piles of nearly identical pa- 13 perwork to access the different government assist- 14 ance programs. Even when the application process 15 begins online, the eligible applicant is typically still 16 required to physically follow up with each govern- 17 ment office with physical copies, for near identical 18 meetings. As a result, many low-income people are 19 actually unaware of all the government benefits for 20 which they are eligible, reducing the amount of help 21 going to individuals in need by tens of billions of 22 dollars every year. The lines in these offices can 23 seem endless, and sometimes clients need to wait 24 outside, for hours, in the worst kinds of weather. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Mar 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6217.IH H6217 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6217 IH Many offices don’t have weekend or night hours, so 1 an applicant is at risk of losing wages when often 2 their only option is to apply for government help 3 during work hours. 4 (5) Each year, many vital government programs 5 go underutilized because eligible beneficiaries are 6 hindered by obtrusive, time consuming, and repet- 7 itive application barriers. In 2015, according to the 8 Department of Agriculture, 15 percent of all people 9 eligible for supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 10 gram (SNAP), 25 percent of the ‘‘working poor’’ eli- 11 gible for SNAP, and 55 percent of seniors over 60 12 who were eligible failed to receive it. 13 (6) The United States has hundreds of thou- 14 sands of nonprofit groups providing high quality and 15 much needed social services, but it is nearly impos- 16 sible for struggling people to determine which of 17 those organizations provides services they need, 18 whether the organization is conveniently located, and 19 for which services they are eligible. If they do deter- 20 mine that a nonprofit (or multiple nonprofits) could 21 help, they need to take yet more time to visit each 22 one. 23 (7) Since many government and nonprofit pro- 24 grams require frequent reapplications and recertifi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Mar 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6217.IH H6217 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6217 IH cations, a low-income person often has to repeat the 1 same endless and frustrating process. 2 (8) Technology has fundamentally revamped the 3 lives of most individuals, usually for the better. Ac- 4 cording to the Pew Research Center, 64 percent of 5 low-income individuals have a smart phone as of 6 2016 (not because a smart phone is a luxury but be- 7 cause it is an essential tool of learning and work in 8 modern America) but they rarely can use these de- 9 vices to apply for benefits. Digital technology, com- 10 bined with policy improvements, can simplify the 11 lives and boost the long-term self-sufficiency of our 12 lowest income residents. 13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 14 (1) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 15 means the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 16 the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of 17 Housing and Urban Development, acting collabo- 18 ratively. 19 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible pilot 20 community’’ means a State, unit of general purpose 21 local government, Tribal government, or an entity 22 that represents a smaller geographical area therein 23 (including a neighborhood). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Mar 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6217.IH H6217 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6217 IH (3) TARGET POPULATION.—The term ‘‘target 1 population’’ includes an individual or household 2 that— 3 (A) earns an income below 200 percent of 4 the Federal poverty line, 5 (B) suffers from food insecurity, 6 (C) earns insufficient income to ensure 7 food security or economic security, 8 (D) lives in a rural, suburban, or urban 9 community that suffers from poverty, hunger, 10 or food insecurity, 11 (E) is homeless, 12 (F) receives (or recently received) assist- 13 ance under a State program funded under part 14 A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 15 U.S.C. et seq.), relating to temporary assistance 16 to needy families, 17 (G) is eligible for benefits under any Fed- 18 eral nutrition assistance program or Federal 19 antipoverty program, or 20 (H) is formerly a youth in transition from 21 foster care or the juvenile detention facilities. 22 (4) PARTNER NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The 23 term ‘‘partner nonprofit organization’’ means any 24 national, regional, State, or local nonprofit group de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Mar 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6217.IH H6217 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6217 IH scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 1 Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 2 501(a) of such Code. 3 SEC. 4. HOPE ACCOUNTS PILOT PROJECTS. 4 (a) PILOT PROJECTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretaries 5 shall allow eligible entities that apply to do so—based on 6 an application to be created by the Secretaries—to carry 7 out HOPE (Health, Opportunity, and Personal Empower- 8 ment) Accounts Pilot Projects (in this section referred to 9 as Projects) to enable target populations of individuals to 10 establish through banks, credit unions, and any govern- 11 mental or Tribal agencies HOPE accounts that enable 12 such individuals— 13 (1) to have their paychecks deposited directly in 14 such accounts, 15 (2) to use such accounts to increase savings 16 that would be matched with funds provided by gov- 17 ernment and private sources, including individual de- 18 velopment accounts, 19 (3) to use an account app on a smart phone to 20 easily locate and sign-up for job training and place- 21 ment services online, 22 (4) to enable such individuals to use any smart 23 phone, tablet, or computer— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Mar 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6217.IH H6217 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6217 IH (A) to learn about the public and philan- 1 thropic programs that provide benefits to such 2 individuals, including aid to improve health, nu- 3 trition, job training and placement, housing, in- 4 come and to receive Federal and State tax cred- 5 its, and 6 (B) to apply for, submit eligibility docu- 7 ments for, enroll in, and manage the use of 8 such benefits at once through the convenience 9 of their device if individuals or their households 10 are eligible for 1 or more of such benefits, 11 (5) to receive a basic smart phone, tablet, or 12 computer, along with a subsidized internet Wi-Fi ac- 13 cess plan, if such individuals do not own a smart 14 phone, tablet, or computer, 15 (6) to obtain the access and information de- 16 scribed in paragraph (4) with assistance at libraries, 17 government offices, or nonprofit agencies if such in- 18 dividuals are uncomfortable using internet tech- 19 nology themselves, 20 (7) to obtain access to the information de- 21 scribed in paragraph (4), with the assistance of gov- 22 ernment or nonprofit employees, AmeriCorps na- 23 tional service participants, or Senior Corps members, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Mar 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6217.IH H6217 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6217 IH to receive home visits if such individuals are elderly 1 or disabled, 2 (8) to access health care information that speci- 3 fies medical benefits, and any out-of-pocket costs, 4 for each of the health plans for which such individ- 5 uals may be eligible, and to empower them to easily 6 select the plan that works best for them, 7 (9) enable such individuals to file directly (and 8 without expending funds to obtain third-party tax 9 filing services) to obtain Federal tax credits and re- 10 funds, and in States and localities with their own 11 supplemental tax credits, to simultaneously file for 12 those, 13 (10) to deposit cash in the account that is set 14 aside for education, job training, starting a business, 15 or buying a home and that would be nontaxable, 16 (11) to easily access and monitor, in 1 central 17 online account— 18 (A) to be able to check the status, 19 amounts, and recertification deadlines for some 20 or all their benefits and savings, and 21 (B) to pay all bills online, saving high 22 check cashing fees and enormous amounts of 23 time, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Mar 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6217.IH H6217 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6217 IH (12) to budget their resources by using real- 1 time cash flow data and long-term financial planning 2 data, including calculating how much they would 3 lose in interest on credit cards versus how much 4 they would gain in interest by saving more, 5 (13) to access calendar and scheduling func- 6 tions that enable them to keep track of all job 7 search, work, family, and school obligations, as well 8 as any social service filing or appointment dates, 9 (14) to be protected by security and privacy 10 systems so that only such individuals, and not the 11 government, nonprofit, or banking partners would be 12 able to see or track private financial and appoint- 13 ment information, and 14 (15) notwithstanding other provisions of law, to 15 allow program applicants to easily and clearly au- 16 thorize their sharing of personal and financial infor- 17 mation with multiple government agencies, solely for 18 the purpose of those government agencies enabling 19 those to apply for and utilize government benefits. 20 (b) FISCAL YEARS.—Pilot projects authorized by 21 subsection (a) shall be carried out for a 1-year period in 22 each of the fiscal years 2020 through 2025. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Mar 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6217.IH H6217 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6217 IH SEC. 5. HOPE ACTION PLANS PILOT PROJECTS. 1 (a) PILOT PROJECTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretaries 2 shall allow eligible entities that apply to do so—based on 3 an application to be created by the Secretaries—to carry 4 out HOPE Action Plans Pilot Projects to enable target 5 populations of individuals to partner with government and 6 nonprofit organizations by entering into voluntary agree- 7 ments to carry out long-term HOPE action plans that— 8 (1) specify exactly how the parties to such plans 9 will help such individuals and their families earn, 10 learn, and save better in order to ensure greater eco- 11 nomic opportunity for themselves and their children 12 by working together in a long-term, positive relation- 13 ship for the purpose of ensuring upward mobility, 14 (2) could empower such individuals and their 15 families to better organize their time and focus their 16 activities on productive endeavors while providing 17 them extra resources to do so, 18 (3) could be short-term, over just a year or 2, 19 and aimed at helping families achieve very basic 20 goals, such as avoiding homelessness and hunger, 21 (4) could be long-term with far more ambitious 22 goals for upward mobility, and 23 (5) would require that participating individuals 24 and families, government entities, and nonprofit 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:06 Mar 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6217.IH H6217 pamtmann on [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]