I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2182 

To establish the Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty 

which will create and carry out a national plan to cut poverty in America 

in half in ten years. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2013 

Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. HOYER, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, 

Ms. CHU, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. NADLER, Mr. 

CONYERS, Mr. VELA, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. RUSH, Ms. MOORE, Ms. SEWELL

of Alabama, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. ELLISON, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. 

DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. 

CARSON of Indiana, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. TONKO, Mr. VEASEY, 

Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. CLAY, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 

Mr. HECK of Washington, Mr. HONDA, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. BRADY of 

Pennsylvania, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. JACKSON LEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To establish the Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty which will create and carry out a national 

plan to cut poverty in America in half in ten years. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Half in Ten Act of 

3 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The persistence of poverty, and especially 

7 intergenerational poverty, in America can be seen as 

8 a deep, structural problem that implicates our value 

9 system and our educational and economic institu10 tions. 

11 (2) Poverty may be defined as the lack of basic 

12 necessities of life such as food, shelter, clothing, 

13 health care, education, economic security, and eco14 nomic opportunity. 

15 (3) Policy initiatives and many safety net pro16 grams addressing poverty have not kept pace with 

17 the needs of millions of Americans. 

18 (4) The lack of an equitable distribution of 

19 housing choices across the country leads to isolation 

20 and concentrated poverty. 

21 (5) The number of Americans living in poverty 

22 rose by over 2.6 million from 2009 to 2010 (U.S. 

23 Census Bureau, September 2011). 

24 (6) There were 46.2 million Americans living in 

25 poverty in 2010, consisting of 15.1 percent of the 


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1 American people (U.S. Census Bureau, September 

2 2011). 

3 (7) Poverty has a disproportionate impact on 

4 minority communities in America with 27.4 percent 

5 of African-Americans, 26.6 percent of Hispanics, 

6 12.1 percent of Asian Americans, and 9.9 percent of 

7 Whites living in poverty in the United States in 

8 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, September 2011). 

9 (8) In 2010 a family of 4 was considered poor 

10 under the U.S. Census Bureau’s official measure if 

11 the family’s income was below $22,314. 

12 (9) The economic consequences of poverty in 

13 the United States are estimated to be at least $500 

14 billion per year (Center for American Progress, 

15 2007). 

16 (10) Children who grow up in poverty experi17 ence higher crime rates, decreased productivity, and 

18 higher health costs over their lives (Center for Amer19 ican Progress, 2007). 

20 (11) 3,500,000 seniors lived in poverty in 2010 

21 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). 

22 (12) Young Americans, ages 18–24, experience 

23 a higher poverty rate than the national average 

24 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). 


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1 (13) 16,400,000 children lived in poverty in 

2 2010—more than one in every five American chil3 dren (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). 

4 (14) Almost 35 percent of African-American 

5 children and over 30 percent of Hispanic children 

6 lived in poverty in 2009 (U.S. Census Bureau, 

7 2011). 

8 (15) The 46,180,000 of Americans in poverty 

9 in 2010 was the largest number yet recorded in the 

10 52 years for which poverty estimates are available 

11 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). 

12 (16) Individuals and families in poverty are 

13 more socially vulnerable to natural disasters, ex14 treme weather and impacts of climate change and 

15 have greater difficulty preparing for, responding to 

16 and recovering from such events (Oxfam America, 

17 2009). 

18 (17) Children who live in families who fall into 

19 poverty for even short periods of time are at greater 

20 risk of a lifetime of lower earnings, lower edu21 cational attainment, and increased reliance on public 

22 services and increased rates of incarceration (First 

23 Focus, 2008). 

24 (18) It is estimated that the additional 3 mil25 lion children who were forced into poverty due to the 


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1 recession of 2008, resulted in $35 billion in eco2 nomic losses annually, and will cause at least $1.7 

3 trillion in economic losses to the United States dur4 ing their lifetimes (First Focus, 2008). 

5 (19) Reducing poverty, especially child poverty, 

6 not only reduces costs for Federal, State, and local 

7 social services and benefits programs, but also in8 creases tax revenue at all levels of government (Chil9 dren’s Defense Fund, 2009). 

10 (20) The House of Representatives, on January 

11 22, 2008, has resolved that it is the sense of Con12 gress that the United States should set a national 

13 goal of cutting poverty in half over the next 10 

14 years. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

18 agency’’ means any executive department, Govern19 ment corporation, Government-controlled corpora20 tion, or other establishment in the executive branch 

21 of the Government (including the Executive Office of 

22 the President), or any independent regulatory agen23 cy. 

24 (2) POVERTY.—The term ‘‘poverty’’ means an 

25 income level and living standard associated with and 


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1 based on the official poverty measure as established 

2 and updated by the U.S. Census Bureau which es3 tablishes a threshold of minimum income necessary 

4 to achieve a standard of living free from deprivation 

5 of basic needs. 

6 (3) EXTREME POVERTY.—The term ‘‘extreme 

7 poverty’’ means having an income level or living 

8 standard at a level of extreme deprivation based on 

9 living with income below 50 percent of the Federal 

10 poverty line as established by the U.S. Census. 

11 (4) NEAR POVERTY.—The term ‘‘near poverty’’ 

12 means having a level of household income below 200 

13 percent of the Federal poverty line. 

14 (5) CHILD POVERTY.—The term ‘‘child pov15 erty’’ means poverty which impacts those persons 

16 under 18 years of age. 

17 (6) DEPRIVATION.—The term ‘‘deprivation’’ 

18 means lacking some or all basic human needs. 

19 (7) DECENT LIVING STANDARD.—The term 

20 ‘‘decent living standard’’ means the amount of an21 nual income that would allow an individual to live 

22 beyond deprivation at a safe and decent, but modest, 

23 standard of living. 

24 (8) ALTERNATIVE POVERTY MEASURES.—The 

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1 ures and indicators, other than the traditional in2 come based measure of poverty, which can provide a 

3 more detailed picture of the low-income and poverty 

4 stricken populations, such as the number of people 

5 who were kept above poverty by Government sup6 ports, the number of people who are poor due to 

7 medical expenses, child care, and work expenses, the 

8 rates of food insecurity, the number of people who 

9 are asset poor (with less than three months of in10 come saved), the number of disconnected youth, teen 

11 birth rates, participation rates in Federal anti-pov12 erty programs for all eligible populations, and the 

13 number of people who are unbanked. 

14 (9) REGIONAL COSTS OF LIVING.—The term 

15 ‘‘regional costs of living’’ means a measure of the 

16 differing costs of maintaining a given living standard 

17 in varying regional, geographic, urban or rural re18 gions. 

19 (10) ECONOMIC INSECURITY.—The term ‘‘eco20 nomic insecurity’’ means the inability of individuals 

21 and households to cope with routine adverse or cost22 ly life events and the lack of means to maintain a 

23 decent standard of living and to recover from the 

24 costly consequences of those events. 


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1 (11) ECONOMIC STABILITY.—The term ‘‘eco2 nomic stability’’ means individuals and households 

3 have access to the means and support systems nec4 essary to effectively cope with adverse or costly life 

5 events and have the ability to effectively recover 

6 from the consequences of those events while main7 taining their standard of living or maintaining a de8 cent standard of living. 

9 (12) DIGITAL DIVIDE.—The term ‘‘digital di10 vide’’ means the gap between individuals, house11 holds, businesses and geographic areas at different 

12 socio-economic levels with regard to both their access 

13 information and communications technologies and 

14 including the imbalance both in physical access to 

15 technology and the resources, education and skills 

16 needed to effectively use computer technology and 

17 the Internet for a wide variety of activities. 

18 (13) OUTCOMES.—The term ‘‘outcomes’’ means 

19 change in the economic status, economic instability 

20 or economic security of an individual, household or 

21 other population which is attributable to a planned 

22 intervention, benefit, or service or series of interven23 tions, benefits, and services, regardless of whether 

24 such an intervention was intended to change such 

25 economic status. 


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1 (14) DISPARATE IMPACT.—The term ‘‘disparate 

2 impact’’ refers to the historic and ongoing impacts 

3 of the pattern and practice of discrimination in em4 ployment, education, housing, banking and nearly 

5 every other aspect of American life in the economy, 

6 society or culture that have an adverse impact on 

7 minorities, women, or other protected groups, re8 gardless of whether such practices were motivated by 

9 discriminatory intent. 

10 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL INTERAGENCY 

11 WORKING GROUP ON REDUCING POVERTY. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL INTERAGENCY

13 WORKING GROUP ON REDUCING POVERTY.—There is es14 tablished within the Department of Health and Human 

15 Services, a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reduc16 ing Poverty, which shall be chaired by the Secretary of 

17 Health and Human Services, and whose members shall be 

18 selected by their respective agency heads from the senior 

19 ranks of their agencies, which shall— 

20 (1) develop, within 180 days of enactment, a 

21 National Strategy to reduce the number of persons 

22 living in poverty in America in half within 10 years 

23 of the release of the 2012 Census report on Income, 

24 Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the 


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1 United States: 2011, that includes goals and objec2 tives relating to— 

3 (A) reducing in half the number of Ameri4 cans living in poverty as reported by the 2012 

5 Census report on Income, Poverty and Health 

6 Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011; 

7 (B) eliminating child poverty in America; 

8 (C) eliminating extreme poverty in Amer9 ica; 

10 (D) improving the effectiveness and out11 comes of poverty related programs by improving 

12 our understanding of the root causes of poverty, 

13 the social, economic, and the cultural contribu14 tors to persistent intergenerational poverty; 

15 (E) improving the measure of poverty to 

16 include more indicators and measures that can 

17 meaningfully account for other aspects relating 

18 to the measure of poverty, such as regional dif19 ferences in costs of living, the impact of rising 

20 income inequality, the impact of the persistent 

21 ‘‘digital divide’’, expanding the understanding 

22 of poverty by distinguishing a standard that 

23 measures a level of freedom from deprivation 

24 versus a standard that measures a standard of 

25 economic adequacy provided by a living wage 


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1 and access to a decent living standard, and the 

2 impact of poverty on other measures of eco3 nomic stability and economic outcomes, such as 

4 educational attainment, rates of incarceration, 

5 lifetime earnings, access to health care, health 

6 care outcomes, access to housing, and including 

7 other measures as necessary to improve our un8 derstanding of why poverty persists in America; 

9 (F) eliminating the disparate rates of pov10 erty based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, or 

11 sexual orientation and identity, especially 

12 among children in those households so im13 pacted; 

14 (G) measuring effectiveness of poverty re15 lated programs on the basis of long-term out16 comes, including the long-term savings and 

17 value of preventive practice and policy, and em18 ploying fact based measures of programs to 

19 make improvements; 

20 (H) improving the accessibility of benefit 

21 and social services programs, reducing the com22 plexity and difficulty of enrollment, and improv23 ing the rates of enrollment in need based pro24 grams for all eligible recipients to maximize the 

25 impact of benefits and social services programs 


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1 on reducing the impacts of poverty and improv2 ing economic outcomes; 

3 (I) making more uniform eligibility re4 quirements to improve the coordination of serv5 ice delivery, reduce gaps in eligibility, and im6 prove outcomes of programs addressing poverty 

7 in the Federal Government; 

8 (J) reducing the negative impacts of asset 

9 limits for eligibility which impact Federal, State 

10 and local poverty programs on the effectiveness 

11 of programs where limited eligibility creates 

12 gaps in necessary service and benefit delivery, 

13 and restricts access to benefits as individuals 

14 and families attempt to transition off of assist15 ance programs and which can prevent needy 

16 beneficiaries from improving long-term out17 comes and achieving long-term economic inde18 pendence from need based programs; 

19 (K) identifying Federal programs, includ20 ing those related to disaster relief, hazard miti21 gation, extreme weather and climate change, 

22 and necessary reforms to better target re23 sources towards disproportionately impacted so24 cially vulnerable, low income and disadvantaged 


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1 communities may provide greater socio-eco2 nomic benefits; 

3 (L) improving the ability of community4 based organizations to participate in the devel5 opment, oversight and implementation of Fed6 eral poverty-related programs; 

7 (M) improving access to good jobs with 

8 adequate wages and benefits by individuals liv9 ing in poverty, low-income households, and the 

10 unemployed; 

11 (N) expanding and stabilizing poor and low 

12 income persons connection to work and access 

13 to critical job training and/or skills upgrade 

14 training that will lead to re-entry in the work15 force; 

16 (O) developing a comprehensive strategy to 

17 connect low-income young people and to re-con18 nect currently disconnected youth to education, 

19 work, and their community; and 

20 (P) shifting the focus of poverty and 

21 means tested programs across the Federal Gov22 ernment beyond the relief of deprivation and in23 stead setting goals, measures, and outcomes 

24 more focused on measuring the success of pro25 grams in supporting and improving how capable 


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1 individuals and families can access educational 

2 and economic opportunities to successfully tran3 sition away from accessing public assistance 

4 and benefits and achieving long-term economic 

5 stability which will reduce long-term costs in 

6 domestic social needs programs, reduce long7 term health care costs due to the improved 

8 health of formerly poverty stricken households, 

9 increase the number of taxpaying individuals 

10 which will increase revenue, and lower the en11 rollment and costs in need based benefits and 

12 services programs, thus improving the economy 

13 and reducing long-term deficits for Federal, 

14 State, and local governments; 

15 (2) oversee, coordinate, and integrate all poli16 cies and activities of the Federal Government, in co17 ordination and consultation with the Domestic Pol18 icy Council and the National Economic Council, 

19 across all agencies relating to reducing the number 

20 of individuals, families, and children living below the 

21 Federal poverty line, in extreme poverty or near pov22 erty and increasing the number of households able 

23 to achieve long-term economic stability with assets 

24 sufficient to maintain a decent living standard with25 out relying on public supports— 


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1 (A) economic, commercial, and pro2 grammatic policies that can effect or relieve the 

3 effects of poverty through job creation, and eco4 nomic development targeted to low income, mi5 nority, rural, urban and other populations who 

6 suffer disparate rates of poverty, among Fed7 eral agencies; and 

8 (B) services and benefits including emer9 gency programs, discretionary economic pro10 grams, and other policies and activities nec11 essary to ensure that the Federal Government 

12 is able to mount effective responses to economic 

13 downturns and increases in the rates of poverty; 

14 (3) ensure that all relevant Federal agencies 

15 comply with appropriate guidelines, policies, and di16 rectives from the Federal Interagency Working 

17 Group on Reducing Poverty and the Department of 

18 Health and Human Services and other Federal 

19 agencies with responsibilities relating to poverty re20 duction or improving economic stability and inde21 pendence; 

22 (4) ensure that Federal agencies, State govern23 ments and relevant congressional committees have 

24 access to, receive, and appropriately disseminate best 

25 practices in the administration of programs, have 


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1 adequate resources to maximize the public awareness 

2 of programs, increase the reach of those programs, 

3 especially into historically disenfranchised commu4 nities, maximize enrollment for all eligible Ameri5 cans, share relevant data, and issue relevant guid6 ance in consultation with non-government organiza7 tions and policy experts in the field and State and 

8 local government officials who administer or direct 

9 policy for anti-poverty programs in increasing and 

10 maximizing the enrollment into and administration 

11 of programs and services designed to alleviate pov12 erty; 

13 (5) enact best practices for improved data col14 lection, relevant to— 

15 (A) reducing poverty; 

16 (B) reducing the racial, ethnic, age, gen17 der, and sexual orientation or sexual identity 

18 based disparities in the rates of poverty; 

19 (C) adequately measuring the effectiveness, 

20 efficiency and impact of programs on the out21 comes for individuals, families and communities 

22 who receive benefits and services; 

23 (D) streamlining enrollment and eligibility 

24 for programs; 


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1 (E) improving long-term outcomes for indi2 viduals who are enrolled in service and benefit 

3 programs; 

4 (F) reducing reliance on public programs; 

5 (G) improving connections to work; 

6 (H) improving economic stability; 

7 (I) improving savings and investment, ac8 cess to capital, increasing rates of entrepreneur9 ship; 

10 (J) improving our understanding of the 

11 impact of extreme weather and natural disas12 ters on economically vulnerable communities 

13 and improving those communities’ resilience to 

14 and recovery from extreme weather and natural 

15 disasters; 

16 (K) improving access to living wage em17 ployment; and 

18 (L) improving access to employment based 

19 benefits; and 

20 (6) study the feasibility of and test different 

21 interagency, State and local, public/private models of 

22 cooperative service and benefit delivery by creating 

23 necessary exemptions, waivers and funding sources 

24 to allow improved cooperation and innovation in the 

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1 cedures that advance the goal of reducing poverty 

2 and increasing economic opportunity. 

3 (b) DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL POVERTY POLICY.— 

4 There shall be a Staff Director of National Poverty Policy, 

5 who shall be the head of the Federal Interagency Working 

6 Group on Reducing Poverty. 

7 SEC. 5. APPOINTMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DI8 RECTOR. 

9 (a) APPOINTMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Staff Director shall be 

11 appointed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

12 Development. 

13 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Secretary shall ap14 point the Staff Director from among individuals who 

15 have demonstrated ability and knowledge in social 

16 policy, improving outcome based management, issues 

17 of equity and equal opportunity and access to serv18 ices and economic opportunity. 

19 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Staff Director shall— 

20 (1) advise the Secretary and all relevant cabinet 

21 secretaries, and agency officials regarding the estab22 lishment of policies, goals, objectives, and priorities 

23 for reducing poverty in America in half in ten years, 

24 ending child poverty, ending extreme poverty and 

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1 tity and orientation based disparities in the rates of 

2 poverty; 

3 (2) advise the Secretary, when directed by the 

4 Secretary, advise relevant cabinet secretaries, heads 

5 of independent Federal agencies and other entities 

6 within the Executive Office of the President regard7 ing mechanisms to improve the effectiveness, coordi8 nation, impact, and outcomes of social services, ben9 efits, and other poverty reduction and economic op10 portunity programs, in collaboration with experts in 

11 the field, non-governmental organizations, and other 

12 governments; 

13 (3) work with Federal agencies to oversee, co14 ordinate, and integrate the implementation of the 

15 National Plan or Strategy, including consultation 

16 with independent non-governmental policy experts 

17 and service provider groups engaged in serving low18 income persons, children and households, State and 

19 local government officials who administer or direct 

20 policy for anti-poverty programs, and with as many 

21 groups that directly represent low-income people, 

22 such as public housing tenants’ associations, or 

23 other similar groups; and 

24 (4) resolve any disputes that arise between Fed25 eral agencies relating to the National Plan to reduce 


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1 poverty in half in ten years or other matters within 

2 the responsibility of the Office. 

3 SEC. 6. CONSULTATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director may consult and ob5 tain recommendations from, as needed, such Presidential 

6 and other advisory entities such as consultation with inde7 pendent non-governmental policy experts and service pro8 vider groups engaged in serving low-income persons, chil9 dren, and households; State and local government officials 

10 who administer or direct policy for anti-poverty programs, 

11 and groups made up of low-income people, such as public 

12 housing tenants’ associations, or other similar groups as 

13 the Director determines will assist in carrying out the mis14 sion of the Office, including, but not limited to— 

15 (1) the Administration for Children and Fami16 lies (ACF); 

17 (2) the Administration on Aging (AoA); 

18 (3) the Department of Agriculture (USDA); 

19 (4) the Bankruptcy Courts; 

20 (5) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec21 tion; 

22 (6) the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA); 

23 (7) the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); 

24 (8) the Bureau of the Census; 


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1 (9) the Center for Nutrition Policy and Pro2 motion; 

3 (10) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Serv4 ices (formerly the Health Care Financing Adminis5 tration); 

6 (11) the Commission on Civil Rights; 

7 (12) the Office of Community Planning and 

8 Development; 

9 (13) the Consumer Financial Protection Bu10 reau; 

11 (14) the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Jus12 tice and Delinquency Prevention; 

13 (15) the Corporation for National and Commu14 nity Service; 

15 (16) the Council of Economic Advisers; 

16 (17) the Department of Agriculture (USDA); 

17 (18) the Department of Commerce (DOC); 

18 (19) the Department of Defense (DOD); 

19 (20) the Department of Education (ED); 

20 (21) the Department of Health and Human 

21 Services (HHS); 

22 (22) the Department of Housing and Urban 

23 Development (HUD); 

24 (23) the Department of Justice (DOJ); 

25 (24) the Department of Labor (DOL); 


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1 (25) the Department of the Treasury; 

2 (26) the Department of Transportation (DOT); 

3 (27) the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); 

4 (28) the Disability Employment Policy Office; 

5 (29) the Domestic Policy Council; 

6 (30) the Drug Enforcement Administration 

7 (DEA); 

8 (31) the Economic Development Administra9 tion; 

10 (32) the Economic Research Service; 

11 (33) the English Language Acquisition Office; 

12 (34) the Equal Employment Opportunity Com13 mission (EEOC); 

14 (35) the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity; 

15 (36) the Federal Bureau of Prisons; 

16 (37) the Federal Housing Finance Board; 

17 (38) the Federal Labor Relations Authority; 

18 (39) the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); 

19 (40) the Food and Nutrition Service; 

20 (41) the Indian Health Service; 

21 (42) the Interagency Council on Homelessness; 

22 (43) the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); 

23 (44) the Legal Services Corporation; 

24 (45) the National AIDS Policy Office; 

25 (46) the National Credit Union Administration; 


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1 (47) the National Economic Council; 

2 (48) the National Institutes of Health (NIH); 

3 (49) the National Labor Relations Board; 

4 (50) the Occupational Safety & Health Admin5 istration (OSHA); 

6 (51) the Office of Management and Budget 

7 (OMB); 

8 (52) the Office of Refugee Resettlement; 

9 (53) the Office of Policy Development and Re10 search (Housing and Urban Development Depart11 ment); 

12 (54) the Small Business Administration (SBA); 

13 (55) the Social Security Administration (SSA); 

14 (56) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

15 Services Administration; 

16 (57) the Veterans’ Employment and Training 

17 Service; and 

18 (58) the Women’s Bureau (Labor Department). 

19 (b) NATIONAL STRATEGY.—In developing and updat20 ing the National Strategy the Executive Director shall 

21 consult with the Domestic Policy Council, the National 

22 Economic Council, and, as appropriate, hold regional pub23 lic hearings around the country to collect information and 

24 feedback from the public on their efforts and experience 


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1 for the development and updating of the National Strategy 

2 and make this information available to the public. 

3 SEC. 7. REPORTS TO CONGRESS AND THE PUBLIC. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Chair of the Federal Inter5 agency Working Group on Reducing Poverty shall submit 

6 an annual report to the appropriate congressional commit7 tees describing the activities, ongoing projects, and plans 

8 of the Federal Government designed to meet the goals and 

9 objectives of the National Strategy on Poverty. The report 

10 shall include an accounting of the savings to the Govern11 ment from any increased efficiencies in the delivery of 

12 services, any savings from reducing the numbers of Ameri13 cans living in poverty and reductions in the demand for 

14 need based services and benefits for which persons living 

15 in and near poverty are eligible, as well as an accounting 

16 of any increase in revenue collections due to the numbers 

17 of persons who become gainfully employed and pay taxes 

18 into the Treasury instead of drawing benefits and services 

19 from it. 

20 (b) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES WORK21 SHOP.—Within 90 days after funds are made available to 

22 carry out this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 

23 Services shall contract with the National Academy of 

24 Sciences (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the 

25 ‘‘NAS’’) to initiate a workshop series to provide necessary 


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1 background information to enable the Working Group on 

2 Reducing Poverty to develop and finalize its plan. 

3 (1) The NAS shall convene a steering com4 mittee to organize, plan, and conduct a public work5 shop on what is known about the economic and so6 cial costs of poverty, including, but not limited to 

7 the following: 

8 (A) Macroeconomic costs (effects on pro9 ductivity and economic output). 

10 (B) Health costs (effects on health expend11 itures and health status). 

12 (C) Crime and other social costs. 

13 (D) Direct Federal budget effects (e.g., 

14 outlays for income support and other poverty 

15 reduction programs). 

16 (E) Natural Disaster related risks and 

17 costs. 

18 (F) The workshop shall also consider pov19 erty metrics (e.g., income poverty, food insecu20 rity, and other measures of deprivation), and 

21 their role in assessing the effects of poverty and 

22 the performance of anti-poverty programs. 

23 The NAS shall commission experts to prepare pa24 pers that summarize and critique the relevant lit25 erature estimating monetary and non-monetary ecoVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:35 May 31, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2182.IH H2182

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•HR 2182 IH

1 nomic and social impacts of poverty. A workshop 

2 summary shall be produced that, along with the pa3 pers, shall be available electronically on the NAS 

4 website. This workshop shall be convened within 6 

5 months of receipt of a contract, the papers posted 

6 immediately, and the summary released by the end 

7 of month. 

8 (2) The NAS steering committee shall organize, 

9 plan, and conduct a second public workshop on what 

10 is known about the economic and social costs and 

11 benefits of a variety of programs and strategies to 

12 reduce and prevent poverty. It shall take account of 

13 such issues as the following: 

14 (A) Short-term versus long-term effects, 

15 including budget implications. 

16 (B) Effects for different population 

17 groups, such as children, the elderly, immi18 grants, long-term single-parent families, dis19 placed older workers, young people with large 

20 loans, people in areas of concentrated poverty 

21 and other social ills (e.g., Indian reservations, 

22 some inner city areas, some rural areas). 

23 (C) Effects by depth of poverty and near24 poverty (e.g., income to poverty ratios of less 


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•HR 2182 IH

1 than 50 percent, less than 100 percent, less 

2 than 200 percent). 

3 This second workshop shall be convened within 9 

4 months of receipt of a contract, the papers posted 

5 immediately, and a summary released by the end of 

6 month 12. 

7 (c) REPORT.—The relevant sections of the report 

8 shall be posted on each agency’s website on the plans and 

9 impacts specific to their agency. 

10 (d) PUBLIC REPORT.—A version of each report sub11 mitted under this section shall be made available to the 

12 public. 

13 (e) LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE.—The Working Group 

14 on Reducing Poverty shall submit, as necessary, legislative 

15 language, including specific legislative recommendations to 

16 the Congress of the United States towards achieving the 

17 national goals. 

Æ 


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