Working Families Task Force Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2614 To establish a national task force to expand opportunities and improve the standard of living for working families in America. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 13, 2023 Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Commit- tees on Financial Services, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a national task force to expand opportunities and improve the standard of living for working families in America. 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 ‘‘Working Families 4 Task Force Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 7 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2614.IH H2614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2614 IH Labor, in consultation with the Secretaries of Health and 1 Human Services, Education, Housing and Urban Develop- 2 ment, Commerce, the Treasury, Transportation, and Agri- 3 culture, shall establish an Interagency National Task 4 Force on Working Families (in this Act referred to as the 5 ‘‘Task Force’’). 6 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall be com- 7 posed of not fewer than 10 members and shall include rep- 8 resentatives designated by the relevant Secretaries from 9 each of the following Federal agencies: 10 (1) The Department of Labor. 11 (2) The Department of Health and Human 12 Services. 13 (3) The Department of Education. 14 (4) The Department of Housing and Urban De- 15 velopment. 16 (5) The Department of Commerce. 17 (6) The Department of the Treasury. 18 (7) The Department of Transportation. 19 (8) The Department of Agriculture. 20 (c) MEETINGS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall meet 22 not less than 1 time per quarter per calendar year. 23 (2) QUORUM.—Two-thirds of the members of 24 the Task Force shall constitute a quorum. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2614.IH H2614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2614 IH (d) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Task Force shall 1 be to— 2 (1) examine the challenges facing working fami- 3 lies; and 4 (2) issue recommendations to improve the 5 standard of living and quality of life for working 6 families. 7 (e) DUTIES.—The duties of the Task Force shall in- 8 clude the following: 9 (1) Identifying and evaluating key factors that 10 impact the standard of living and quality of life for 11 working families, including— 12 (A) addressing affordability challenges re- 13 lated to various economic conditions, including 14 inflation; 15 (B) improving access to quality jobs with 16 livable wages and strong labor standards; 17 (C) expanding affordable child care for all 18 families; 19 (D) improving incentives, including tax 20 policies such as the child tax credit and earned 21 income tax credit, that assist children and fami- 22 lies; 23 (E) supporting home care and medical care 24 for seniors and families that need assistance; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2614.IH H2614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2614 IH (F) accessing quality, affordable housing; 1 (G) reducing barriers to economic mobility; 2 (H) expanding educational and workforce 3 training opportunities; and 4 (I) increasing financial literacy and access 5 to financial services. 6 (2) Assessing the effectiveness of current Fed- 7 eral policies and programs in helping working fami- 8 lies achieve an improved standard of living and qual- 9 ity of life. 10 (3) Developing policy recommendations to en- 11 hance the efforts of Federal agencies and Congress 12 to empower working families to meet the challenges 13 of current economic conditions, raise their standards 14 of living, and access the benefits of economic growth. 15 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 16 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 17 Task Force shall submit to the appropriate congressional 18 committees a report on its most recent findings and rec- 19 ommendations. 20 (g) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES 21 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con- 22 gressional committees’’ means each of the following: 23 (1) The Committee on Education and the 24 Workforce of the House of Representatives, and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2614.IH H2614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 2614 IH Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen- 1 sions of the Senate. 2 (2) The Committee on Transportation and In- 3 frastructure of the House of Representatives, and 4 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans- 5 portation of the Senate. 6 (3) The Committee on Financial Services of the 7 House of Representatives, and the Committee on Fi- 8 nance of the Senate. 9 (4) The Committee on Energy and Commerce 10 of the House of Representatives, and the Committee 11 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate. 12 (5) The Committee on Agriculture of the House 13 of Representatives, and the Committee on Agri- 14 culture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2614.IH H2614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB