II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4679 

To require the Bureau of the Census to determine income and poverty 

levels in the United States in a manner that accounts for the receipt 

of Federal benefits, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 

Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Bureau of the Census to determine income 

and poverty levels in the United States in a manner 

that accounts for the receipt of Federal benefits, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Poverty Measurement 

5 Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY IN 

7 THE UNITED STATES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) FEDERAL BENEFIT.—The term ‘‘Federal 

2 benefit’’ means a benefit, refundable tax credit, or 

3 other form of assistance provided under any of the 

4 following programs: 

5 (A) Earned Income Tax Credit (refundable 

6 portion). 

7 (B) Child Tax Credit (refundable portion). 

8 (C) Supplemental Security Income. 

9 (D) Temporary Assistance for Needy Fam10 ilies. 

11 (E) Title IV–E Foster Care. 

12 (F) Title IV–E Adoption Assistance. 

13 (G) Medicaid. 

14 (H) SCHIP. 

15 (I) Indian Health Services. 

16 (J) PPACA refundable premium assistance 

17 and cost sharing tax credit. 

18 (K) Assets for Independence program. 

19 (L) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

20 Food Program. 

21 (M) School Breakfast. 

22 (N) School Lunch. 

23 (O) Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) 

24 Food Program. 

25 (P) Child and Adult Care Food Program. 


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1 (Q) The Food Distribution Program on In2 dian Reservations (FDPIR). 

3 (R) Nutrition Program for the Elderly. 

4 (S) Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition 

5 Program. 

6 (T) Commodity Supplemental Food Pro7 gram. 

8 (U) Section 8 Housing. 

9 (V) Public Housing. 

10 (W) Housing for Persons with Disabilities. 

11 (X) Home Investment Partnership Pro12 gram. 

13 (Y) Rural Housing Service. 

14 (Z) Rural Housing Insurance Fund. 

15 (AA) Low-Income Home Energy Assist16 ance Program. 

17 (BB) Universal Service Fund Low Income 

18 Support Mechanism (subsidized phone services). 

19 (CC) Pell Grants. 

20 (DD) Supplemental Educational Oppor21 tunity Grants. 

22 (EE) American Opportunity Tax Credit 

23 (refundable portion). 

24 (FF) Healthy Start. 

25 (GG) Job Corps. 


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1 (HH) Head Start (including Early Head 

2 Start). 

3 (II) Weatherization Assistance. 

4 (JJ) Chafee Foster Care Independence 

5 Program. 

6 (KK) Child Care Subsidies from the Child 

7 Care and Development Fund. 

8 (LL) Child Care from the Temporary As9 sistance for Needy Families Block Grant. 

10 (MM) Emergency Assistance to Needy 

11 Families with Children. 

12 (NN) Senior Community Service Employ13 ment Program. 

14 (OO) Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers 

15 Training Program. 

16 (PP) Indian and Native American Employ17 ment and Training Program. 

18 (QQ) Independent Living Education and 

19 Training Vouchers. 

20 (2) RESOURCE UNIT.—The term ‘‘resource 

21 unit’’ means all co-resident individuals who are re22 lated by birth, marriage, or adoption, plus any co23 resident unrelated children, foster children, and un24 married partners and their relatives. 


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1 (3) EARNED INCOME.—The term ‘‘earned in2 come’’ means individual income from the following: 

3 (A) Earnings. 

4 (B) Interest. 

5 (C) Dividends. 

6 (D) Rents, royalties, and estates and 

7 trusts. 

8 (E) The monetary value of employer-spon9 sored health insurance benefits. 

10 (F) Other forms of income, as determined 

11 by the Director. 

12 (4) ENTITLEMENT AND OTHER INCOME.—The 

13 term ‘‘entitlement and other income’’ means income 

14 from the following: 

15 (A) Unemployment (insurance) compensa16 tion. 

17 (B) Workers’ compensation. 

18 (C) Social Security. 

19 (D) Veterans’ payments and benefits. 

20 (E) Survivor benefits. 

21 (F) Disability benefits (not including bene22 fits under the Supplemental Security Income 

23 program). 

24 (G) Pension or retirement income. 

25 (H) Alimony. 


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1 (I) Child support. 

2 (J) Financial assistance from outside of 

3 the household. 

4 (K) Medicare. 

5 (5) ENTITLEMENT AND EARNED UNIT IN6 COME.—The term ‘‘entitlement and earned unit in7 come’’ means the sum of all earned income and enti8 tlement and other income. 

9 (6) INCOME TAX DATA.—The term ‘‘income tax 

10 data’’ means return information, as such term is de11 fined under section 6103(b)(2) of the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986. 

13 (7) ADMINISTERING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘ad14 ministering agency’’ means a State or Federal agen15 cy responsible for administering a Federal benefit. 

16 (8) TOTAL RESOURCE UNIT INCOME.—The 

17 term ‘‘total resource unit income’’ means, with re18 spect to a resource unit, an amount equal to— 

19 (A) the sum of— 

20 (i) all earned income attributable to 

21 members of the unit; 

22 (ii) all entitlement and other income 

23 attributable to members of the unit; and 


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1 (iii) an amount, or cash equivalent, of 

2 all Federal benefits received by members of 

3 the unit; minus 

4 (B) all State and Federal income and pay5 roll taxes attributable to members of the unit. 

6 (9) EARNED RESOURCE UNIT INCOME.—The 

7 term ‘‘earned resource unit income’’ means, with re8 spect to a resource unit, all earned income attrib9 utable to members of the unit. 

10 (10) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA11 TION.—The term ‘‘personally identifiable informa12 tion’’ means any information that identifies an indi13 vidual or could reasonably be used to identify an in14 dividual that is— 

15 (A) collected pursuant to a survey con16 ducted by the Bureau of the Census; or 

17 (B) disclosed to the Bureau of the Census 

18 by an administering agency for the purpose of 

19 carrying out subsection (b). 

20 (11) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

21 the Director of the Bureau of the Census. 

22 (b) VERIFICATION OF DATA COLLECTED IN THE AN23 NUAL SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SUPPLEMENT TO THE CUR24 RENT POPULATION SURVEY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in fiscal year 

2 2021, in order to more accurately determine the ex3 tent of poverty in the United States and the anti4 poverty effectiveness of Federal benefit programs, 

5 the Director shall supplement the data collected 

6 under the Annual Social and Economic Supplement 

7 to the Current Population Survey with data from 

8 the appropriate administering agencies related to the 

9 following: 

10 (A) Participation in any Federal benefit 

11 program and the monetary or cash equivalent 

12 value of such benefit for an individual, where 

13 possible, and otherwise for resource units or 

14 households. 

15 (B) The total amount of earned income for 

16 individuals. 

17 (C) The total amount of entitlement and 

18 other income for individuals. 

19 (D) Payment of income taxes and payroll 

20 taxes for individuals. 

21 (E) Total resource unit income. 

22 (F) Total earned resource unit income. 

23 (2) ADMINISTERING AGENCY DATA.—Not later 

24 than 6 months after receiving a request from the Di25 rector, the head of each administering agency shall 


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1 make available to the Director such data (including 

2 income tax data) as the Director shall require for 

3 the purpose of carrying out this subsection and for 

4 the purposes outlined in section 6 of title 13, United 

5 States Code. 

6 (3) PUBLICATION OF DATA.— 

7 (A) RATES AND OTHER DATA.— 

8 (i) REPORT.—The Director shall sub9 mit to Congress, not later than January 1, 

10 2023, a report detailing the implementa11 tion of this Act, including— 

12 (I) the availability of related 

13 data; 

14 (II) the quality of the data; and 

15 (III) the methodology proposed 

16 for assigning dollar values to the re17 ceipt of noncash Federal benefits. 

18 (ii) TABLES AND GRAPHS.—The Di19 rector shall produce tables and graphs 

20 showing for each year the poverty rates 

21 and related data calculated using data col22 lected under paragraph (1), including— 

23 (I) the total resource unit income 

24 for survey respondents; 


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1 (II) the total earned resource 

2 unit income for survey respondents; 

3 (III) a breakdown of the amount 

4 of income taxes and payroll taxes at5 tributable to survey respondents; and 

6 (IV) for 2024 and subsequent 

7 years, poverty rates calculated using 

8 updated poverty thresholds as de9 scribed in clause (iii). 

10 (iii) UPDATED POVERTY THRESH11 OLDS.—For 2024 and subsequent years, 

12 the Director shall adjust the poverty 

13 thresholds used for determining poverty 

14 rates by using the personal consumption 

15 expenditure price index (as published by 

16 the Bureau of Economic Analysis). 

17 (B) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Consistent with 

18 the provisions of sections 8, 9, and 23(c) of title 

19 13, United States Code, the Director shall en20 sure the confidentiality of information furnished 

21 to the Director under this subsection. 

22 (c) PROTECTION AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONALLY

23 IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The security, disclosure, and 

25 confidentiality provisions set forth in sections 9 and 


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1 23 of title 13, United States Code, shall apply to 

2 personally identifiable information obtained by the 

3 Bureau of the Census pursuant to this Act. 

4 (2) RESTRICTED ACCESS TO PERSONALLY

5 IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.—Access to personally 

6 identifiable information collected to supplement the 

7 restricted-use Current Population Survey Annual So8 cial and Economic Supplements in accordance with 

9 subsection (b)(1) shall be available only to those who 

10 have access to the Current Population Survey data 

11 with the permission of the Bureau of the Census and 

12 in accordance with any other applicable provision of 

13 law. 

14 (3) PENALTIES.—Any individual who knowingly 

15 accesses or discloses personally identifiable informa16 tion in violation of this section shall be guilty of a 

17 felony and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in 

18 an amount of not more than $300,000 under title 

19 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not more 

20 than five years, or both. 

21 (d) STATE REPORTING OF FEDERAL DATA.—Begin22 ning with the first full calendar year that begins after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act, with respect to any Federal 

24 benefit that is administered at the State level by a State 

25 administering agency, such State administering agency 


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1 shall submit each year to the Federal administering agen2 cy responsible for administering the benefit at the Federal 

3 level a report that identifies each resource unit that re4 ceived such benefits during such year by the personally 

5 identifiable information of the head of the resource unit 

6 and the amount, or cash equivalent, of such benefit re7 ceived by such resource unit. 

8 SEC. 3. COMMISSION ON VALUATION OF GOVERNMENT 

9 BENEFITS. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

11 the United States Census Bureau a commission, to be 

12 known as the ‘‘Commission on Valuation of Federal Bene13 fits’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

14 (b) COMPOSITION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

16 composed of 8 members, of whom— 

17 (A) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

18 majority leader of the Senate; 

19 (B) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

20 minority leader of the Senate; 

21 (C) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

22 Speaker of the House of Representatives; and 

23 (D) 2 members shall be appointed by the 

24 minority leader of the House of Representa25 tives. 


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1 (2) CO-CHAIRS.—Of the members of the Com2 mission— 

3 (A) 1 co-chair shall be designated by the 

4 majority leader of the Senate; and 

5 (B) 1 co-chair shall be designated by the 

6 Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

7 (3) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each member appointed 

8 to the Commission shall have experience in— 

9 (A) quantitative policy research; and 

10 (B) welfare or poverty studies. 

11 (c) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 60 days after 

12 the date on which the last member is appointed under sub13 section (b), the Commission shall hold an initial meeting. 

14 (d) QUORUM.—Six members of the Commission shall 

15 constitute a quorum. 

16 (e) NO PROXY VOTING.—Proxy voting by members 

17 of the Commission shall be prohibited. 

18 (f) STAFF.—The Director of the Census Bureau shall 

19 appoint an executive director of the Commission. 

20 (g) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Members of the Commis21 sion shall serve without pay, but shall receive travel ex22 penses in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 

23 5, United States Code. 

24 (h) DUTIES OF COMMISSION.— 

25 (1) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

2 produce recommendations for the valuation of 

3 Federal benefits listed under section 2(a)(1) for 

4 the purpose of United States Census Bureau 

5 estimates of the Federal Poverty Level, includ6 ing non-cash benefits. 

7 (2) REPORT.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 

9 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

10 the Commission shall submit to Congress a re11 port of the recommendations required under 

12 paragraph (1), including a detailed statement of 

13 methodology and reasoning behind rec14 ommendations. 

15 (B) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report 

16 required by subparagraph (A) shall be made 

17 available on an internet website of the United 

18 States Government that is available to the pub19 lic. 

20 (i) POWERS OF COMMISSION.—On request by the ex21 ecutive director of the Commission, the head of a Federal 

22 agency shall furnish information to the Commission. 

23 (j) TERMINATION OF COMMISSION.—The Commis24 sion shall terminate 90 days after the date on which the 

25 Commission submits the report under subsection (h)(2). 


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1 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 to carry out this 

3 section. 

4 SEC. 4. GAO REPORTS ON EFFECT OF SUPPLEMENTARY 

5 DATA ON CALCULATION OF POVERTY RATES 

6 AND RELATED MEASURES. 

7 Not later than January 1, 2025, and every 2 years 

8 thereafter, the Comptroller General of the United States 

9 shall submit to Congress a report that compares the pov10 erty rates and related measures calculated under the An11 nual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Pop12 ulation Survey with the poverty rates and related meas13 ures calculated using the data collected under section 

14 2(b)(1). 

Æ 


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