II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1997

To amend title 13, United States Code, to require that the Secretary of

Commerce produce and publish, at least every 2 years, current data

relating to the incidence of poverty in the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 25 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 22), 1994

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. MOYNIHAN, Mrs. KASSEBAUM, Mrs. BOXER,

Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. RIEGLE, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. BRADLEY,

Mr. MACK, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. DECONCINI, Mr. JOHNSTON, and Mr. WELLSTONE) introduced the following bill; which was read

twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 13, United States Code, to require that

the Secretary of Commerce produce and publish, at least

every 2 years, current data relating to the incidence

of poverty in the United States.

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 Data Improve5 ment Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) more than $20,000,000,000 is provided to

2 State and local governments each year, under var3 ious Federal programs, based on data relating to in4 come and poverty status;

5 (2) the infrequency with which such data are

6 collected diminishes their reliability and usefulness

7 for public policy purposes;

8 (3) the relative lack of intercensal data can pre9 vent Federal funds from reaching those populations

10 that are in greatest need, as reflected in the dra11 matic and often unforeseen shifts in the way Federal

12 funds are reallocated following each decennial cen13 sus;

14 (4) the more frequent collection of data relating

15 to income and poverty status would allow policy16 makers to target scarce program funds more effec17 tively and in a more timely fashion; and

18 (5) the cost of producing the data needed to

19 achieve the ends described in paragraph (4) would

20 be small compared to the amounts that are distrib21 uted based on such data.

22 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 5 of

24 title 13, United States Code, is amended by inserting after

25 section 181 the following:
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1 ‘‘§ 181A. Data relating to poverty

2 ‘‘(a) The Secretary, to the extent feasible, shall

3 produce and publish for each State, county or borough,

4 and local unit of general purpose government, including

5 Alaska native villages, for which data are compiled in the

6 most recent census of population taken under section

7 141(a), and for each school district, data relating to the

8 incidence of poverty. Such data may be produced by means

9 of sampling, estimation, or any other method that the Sec10 retary determines will produce current, comprehensive,

11 and reliable data.

12 ‘‘(b) Data under this section—

13 ‘‘(1) shall include—

14 ‘‘(A) for each school district, the number

15 of children age 5 to 17, inclusive, in families

16 below the poverty level; and

17 ‘‘(B) for each State and county referred to

18 in subsection (a), the number of individuals age

19 65 or over below the poverty level; and

20 ‘‘(2) shall be published in 1996 and at least

21 every second year thereafter.

22 ‘‘(c)(1) If reliable data could not otherwise be pro23 duced, the Secretary may, for purposes of subsection

24 (b)(1)(A), aggregate school districts, but only to the extent

25 necessary to achieve reliability.
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1 ‘‘(2) Any data produced under this subsection shall

2 be appropriately identified and shall be accompanied by

3 a detailed explanation as to how and why aggregation was

4 used (including the measures taken to minimize any

5 such aggregation).

6 ‘‘(d) If the Secretary is unable to produce and publish

7 the data required under this section for any State, county,

8 local unit of general purpose government, or school district

9 in any year specified in subsection (b)(2), a report shall

10 be submitted by the Secretary to the President of the Sen11 ate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, not

12 later than 90 days before the commencement of the follow13 ing year, enumerating each government or school district

14 excluded and giving the reasons for the exclusion.

15 ‘‘(e) In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall

16 use the same criteria relating to poverty as were used in

17 compiling the then most recent census of population taken

18 under section 141(a) (subject to such periodic adjustments

19 as may be necessary to compensate for inflation and other

20 similar factors).’’.

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec22 tions for chapter 5 of title 13, United States Code, is

23 amended by inserting after the item relating to section

24 181 the following:

‘‘181A. Data relating to poverty.’’.

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