II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2323 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish the Helping Obtain 

Prosperity for Everyone program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2021 

Mr. WARNOCK (for himself, Mr. OSSOFF, and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to establish the 

Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone program, 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. HELPING OBTAIN PROSPERITY FOR EVERYONE 

4 PROGRAM. 

5 (a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 53 of title 49, 

7 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

8 section 5307 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 5308. Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone pro2 gram 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) AREA OF PERSISTENT POVERTY.—The 

5 term ‘area of persistent poverty’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) a county that has consistently had 

7 greater than or equal to 20 percent of the pop8 ulation living in poverty during the most recent 

9 30-year period for which data is available, as 

10 measured by the 1990 and 2000 decennial cen11 suses and the most recent Small Area Income 

12 and Poverty Estimates, as estimated by the Bu13 reau of the Census; 

14 ‘‘(B) a census tract with a poverty rate of 

15 at least 20 percent as measured by the most re16 cent 5-year data series available from the 

17 American Community Survey of the Bureau of 

18 the Census for all States and Puerto Rico; or 

19 ‘‘(C) any other territory or possession of 

20 the United States of which at least 20 percent 

21 of the population has consistently lived in pov22 erty over the most recent 30-year period for 

23 which data is available, as measured by the 

24 1990, 2000, and 2010 decennial censuses or 

25 equivalent data of the Bureau of the Census. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘covered 

2 project’ means any project eligible under this chap3 ter carried out by an eligible entity that would serve 

4 an area of persistent poverty. 

5 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en6 tity’ means an eligible recipient or subrecipient 

7 under section 5307, 5310, or 5311 that seeks to 

8 carry out a covered project. 

9 ‘‘(4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

10 the Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone pro11 gram established under subsection (b). 

12 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall carry 

13 out a program, to be known as the ‘Helping Obtain Pros14 perity for Everyone’ program, to award grants to eligible 

15 entities— 

16 ‘‘(1) to carry out planning or engineering work 

17 for covered projects, which may include studies or 

18 analyses to assess the transit needs of an area of 

19 persistent poverty; and 

20 ‘‘(2) to develop technical or financing plans for 

21 covered projects. 

22 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a 

23 grant under the program, or a State department of trans24 portation acting on behalf of an eligible entity seeking a 

25 grant under the program, shall submit to the Secretary 


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1 an application at such time, in such manner, and con2 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 

3 ‘‘(d) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

4 cost of an activity described in subsection (b) shall be not 

5 less than 90 percent. 

6 ‘‘(e) OUTREACH.—Not later than 1 year after the 

7 date on which the Secretary establishes the program, the 

8 Secretary shall conduct outreach, including through per9 sonal contact, webinars, online materials, and other appro10 priate methods determined by the Secretary, to eligible en11 tities with respect to grant opportunities under the pro12 gram. 

13 ‘‘(f) PARTNERSHIPS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The recipient of a grant 

15 under the program may enter into a partnership 

16 with a nonprofit organization or other entity to as17 sist the recipient in carrying out the activities de18 scribed in subsection (b). 

19 ‘‘(2) ENCOURAGEMENT.—The Secretary shall 

20 encourage recipients of grants under the program to 

21 enter into partnerships with nonprofit organizations 

22 that could assist the recipient in ensuring that a cov23 ered project results in lower emissions or no emis24 sions. 


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1 ‘‘(g) RURAL AREAS.—Of the amounts made available 

2 to carry out the program each fiscal year, the Secretary 

3 shall ensure that not less than 20 percent is used to carry 

4 out covered projects in rural areas.’’. 

5 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec6 tions for chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, 

7 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

8 section 5307 the following: 

‘‘5308. Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone program.’’. 

9 (b) FUNDING.—Section 5338(a) of title 49, United 

10 States Code, is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

13 (A), by inserting ‘‘5308,’’ after ‘‘5307,’’; 

14 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

15 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

16 (C) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 

17 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(F) $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

20 2022 through 2026.’’; and 

21 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (A) in subparagraph (M), by striking 

23 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (N)(ii), by striking 

2 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

3 and 

4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(O) $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

6 2022 through 2026 shall be available to carry 

7 out section 5308.’’. 

Æ 


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