I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 258 

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 

JANUARY 9, 2015 

Ms. LEE (for herself, Mr. HONDA, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. NADLER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, 

Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. JEFFRIES, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 

SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. CHU of California, Mr. POCAN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 

TONKO, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The persistence of poverty, and especially 

4 intergenerational poverty, in America can be seen as 

5 a deep, structural problem that implicates our value 

6 system and our educational and economic institu7 tions. 

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

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

10 health care, education, economic security, and eco11 nomic opportunity. 

12 (3) Policy initiatives and many safety net pro13 grams addressing poverty have not kept pace with 

14 the needs of millions of Americans. 

15 (4) The lack of an equitable distribution of 

16 housing choices across the country leads to isolation 

17 and concentrated poverty. 

18 (5) There were 45.3 million Americans living in 

19 poverty in 2013, consisting of 14.5 percent of the 

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

21 2014). 

22 (6) Poverty has a disproportionate impact on 

23 minority communities in America with 27.2 percent 

24 of African-Americans, 23.5 percent of Hispanics, 

25 10.5 percent of Asian-Americans, and 9.6 percent of 


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1 Whites living in poverty in the United States in 

2 2013 (U.S. Census Bureau, September 2014). 

3 (7) In 2013 a family of 4 was considered poor 

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

5 the family’s income was below $22,834. 

6 (8) The economic consequences of poverty in 

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

8 billion per year (Center for American Progress, 

9 2007). 

10 (9) Children who grow up in poverty experience 

11 higher crime rates, decreased productivity, and high12 er health costs over their lives (Center for American 

13 Progress, 2007). 

14 (10) 4,145,717 seniors lived in poverty in 2013 

15 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). 

16 (11) Young Americans, ages 18–24, experience 

17 a higher poverty rate than the national average 

18 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). 

19 (12) 15,769,921 children lived in poverty in 

20 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). 

21 (13) Almost 38.31 percent of African-American 

22 children and over 32.26 percent of Hispanic children 

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

24 2011). 


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1 (14) The 46,180,000 of Americans in poverty 

2 in 2010 was the largest number yet recorded in the 

3 52 years for which poverty estimates are available 

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

5 (15) Individuals and families in poverty are 

6 more socially vulnerable to natural disasters, ex7 treme weather and impacts of climate change and 

8 have greater difficulty preparing for, responding to 

9 and recovering from such events (Oxfam America, 

10 2009). 

11 (16) Children who live in families who fall into 

12 poverty for even short periods of time are at greater 

13 risk of a lifetime of lower earnings, lower edu14 cational attainment, and increased reliance on public 

15 services and increased rates of incarceration (First 

16 Focus, 2008). 

17 (17) It is estimated that the additional 3 mil18 lion children who were forced into poverty due to the 

19 recession of 2008, resulted in $35 billion in eco20 nomic losses annually, and will cause at least $1.7 

21 trillion in economic losses to the United States dur22 ing their lifetimes (First Focus, 2008). 

23 (18) Reducing poverty, especially child poverty, 

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

25 social services and benefits programs, but also inVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:50 Jan 20, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H258.IH H258

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1 creases tax revenue at all levels of government (Chil2 dren’s Defense Fund, 2009). 

3 (19) The House of Representatives, on January 

4 22, 2008, has resolved that it is the sense of Con5 gress that the United States should set a national 

6 goal of cutting poverty in half over the next 10 

7 years. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

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

11 agency’’ means any executive department, Govern12 ment corporation, Government-controlled corpora13 tion, or other establishment in the executive branch 

14 of the Government (including the Executive Office of 

15 the President), or any independent regulatory agen16 cy. 

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

18 income level and living standard associated with and 

19 based on the official poverty measure as established 

20 and updated by the U.S. Census Bureau which es21 tablishes a threshold of minimum income necessary 

22 to achieve a standard of living free from deprivation 

23 of basic needs. 

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

25 poverty’’ means having an income level or living 


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1 standard at a level of extreme deprivation based on 

2 living with income below 50 percent of the Federal 

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

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

5 means having a level of household income below 200 

6 percent of the Federal poverty line. 

7 (5) CHILD POVERTY.—The term ‘‘child pov8 erty’’ means poverty which impacts those persons 

9 under 18 years of age. 

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

11 means lacking some or all basic human needs. 

12 (7) DECENT LIVING STANDARD.—The term 

13 ‘‘decent living standard’’ means the amount of an14 nual income that would allow an individual to live 

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

16 standard of living. 

17 (8) ALTERNATIVE POVERTY MEASURES.—The 

18 term ‘‘alternative poverty measures’’ means meas19 ures and indicators, other than the traditional in20 come based measure of poverty, which can provide a 

21 more detailed picture of the low-income and poverty 

22 stricken populations, such as the number of people 

23 who were kept above poverty by Government sup24 ports, the number of people who are poor due to 

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


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1 rates of food insecurity, the number of people who 

2 are asset poor (with less than three months of in3 come saved), the number of disconnected youth, teen 

4 birth rates, participation rates in Federal anti-pov5 erty programs for all eligible populations, and the 

6 number of people who are unbanked. 

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

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

9 differing costs of maintaining a given living standard 

10 in varying regional, geographic, urban or rural re11 gions. 

12 (10) ECONOMIC INSECURITY.—The term ‘‘eco13 nomic insecurity’’ means the inability of individuals 

14 and households to cope with routine adverse or cost15 ly life events and the lack of means to maintain a 

16 decent standard of living and to recover from the 

17 costly consequences of those events. 

18 (11) ECONOMIC STABILITY.—The term ‘‘eco19 nomic stability’’ means individuals and households 

20 have access to the means and support systems nec21 essary to effectively cope with adverse or costly life 

22 events and have the ability to effectively recover 

23 from the consequences of those events while main24 taining their standard of living or maintaining a de25 cent standard of living. 


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1 (12) DIGITAL DIVIDE.—The term ‘‘digital di2 vide’’ means the gap between individuals, house3 holds, businesses and geographic areas at different 

4 socio-economic levels with regard to both their access 

5 information and communications technologies and 

6 including the imbalance both in physical access to 

7 technology and the resources, education and skills 

8 needed to effectively use computer technology and 

9 the Internet for a wide variety of activities. 

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

11 change in the economic status, economic instability 

12 or economic security of an individual, household or 

13 other population which is attributable to a planned 

14 intervention, benefit, or service or series of interven15 tions, benefits, and services, regardless of whether 

16 such an intervention was intended to change such 

17 economic status. 

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

19 impact’’ refers to the historic and ongoing impacts 

20 of the pattern and practice of discrimination in em21 ployment, education, housing, banking and nearly 

22 every other aspect of American life in the economy, 

23 society or culture that have an adverse impact on 

24 minorities, women, or other protected groups, reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H258.IH H258

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1 gardless of whether such practices were motivated by 

2 discriminatory intent. 

3 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL INTERAGENCY 

4 WORKING GROUP ON REDUCING POVERTY. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL INTERAGENCY

6 WORKING GROUP ON REDUCING POVERTY.—There is es7 tablished within the Department of Health and Human 

8 Services, a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reduc9 ing Poverty, which shall be chaired by the Secretary of 

10 Health and Human Services, and whose members shall be 

11 selected by their respective agency heads from the senior 

12 ranks of their agencies, which shall— 

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

14 National Strategy to reduce the number of persons 

15 living in poverty in America in half within 10 years 

16 of the release of the 2014 Census report on Census 

17 Report on Income and Poverty in the United States: 

18 2013, that includes goals and objectives relating 

19 to— 

20 (A) reducing in half the number of Ameri21 cans living in poverty as reported by the 2014 

22 Census report on Income and Poverty in the 

23 United States: 2013; 

24 (B) eliminating child poverty in America; 


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1 (C) eliminating extreme poverty in Amer2 ica; 

3 (D) improving the effectiveness and out4 comes of poverty related programs by improving 

5 our understanding of the root causes of poverty, 

6 the social, economic, and the cultural contribu7 tors to persistent intergenerational poverty; 

8 (E) improving the measure of poverty to 

9 include more indicators and measures that can 

10 meaningfully account for other aspects relating 

11 to the measure of poverty, such as regional dif12 ferences in costs of living, the impact of rising 

13 income inequality, the impact of the persistent 

14 ‘‘digital divide’’, expanding the understanding 

15 of poverty by distinguishing a standard that 

16 measures a level of freedom from deprivation 

17 versus a standard that measures a standard of 

18 economic adequacy provided by a living wage 

19 and access to a decent living standard, and the 

20 impact of poverty on other measures of eco21 nomic stability and economic outcomes, such as 

22 educational attainment, rates of incarceration, 

23 lifetime earnings, access to health care, health 

24 care outcomes, access to housing, and including 


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1 other measures as necessary to improve our un2 derstanding of why poverty persists in America; 

3 (F) eliminating the disparate rates of pov4 erty based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, or 

5 sexual orientation and identity, especially 

6 among children in those households so im7 pacted; 

8 (G) measuring effectiveness of poverty re9 lated programs on the basis of long-term out10 comes, including the long-term savings and 

11 value of preventive practice and policy, and em12 ploying fact based measures of programs to 

13 make improvements; 

14 (H) improving the accessibility of benefit 

15 and social services programs, reducing the com16 plexity and difficulty of enrollment, and improv17 ing the rates of enrollment in need based pro18 grams for all eligible recipients to maximize the 

19 impact of benefits and social services programs 

20 on reducing the impacts of poverty and improv21 ing economic outcomes; 

22 (I) making more uniform eligibility re23 quirements to improve the coordination of serv24 ice delivery, reduce gaps in eligibility, and imVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H258.IH H258

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1 prove outcomes of programs addressing poverty 

2 in the Federal Government; 

3 (J) reducing the negative impacts of asset 

4 limits for eligibility which impact Federal, State 

5 and local poverty programs on the effectiveness 

6 of programs where limited eligibility creates 

7 gaps in necessary service and benefit delivery, 

8 and restricts access to benefits as individuals 

9 and families attempt to transition off of assist10 ance programs and which can prevent needy 

11 beneficiaries from improving long-term out12 comes and achieving long-term economic inde13 pendence from need-based programs; 

14 (K) identifying Federal programs, includ15 ing those related to disaster relief, hazard miti16 gation, extreme weather and climate change, 

17 and necessary reforms to better target re18 sources towards disproportionately impacted so19 cially vulnerable, low income and disadvantaged 

20 communities may provide greater socio-eco21 nomic benefits; 

22 (L) improving the ability of community23 based organizations to participate in the devel24 opment, oversight and implementation of Fed25 eral poverty-related programs; 


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1 (M) improving access to good jobs with 

2 adequate wages and benefits by individuals liv3 ing in poverty, low-income households, and the 

4 unemployed; 

5 (N) expanding and stabilizing poor and 

6 low-income persons connection to work and ac7 cess to critical job training and/or skills up8 grade training that will lead to re-entry in the 

9 workforce; 

10 (O) developing a comprehensive strategy to 

11 connect low-income young people and to re-con12 nect currently disconnected youth to education, 

13 work, and their community; and 

14 (P) shifting the focus of poverty and 

15 means-tested programs across the Federal Gov16 ernment beyond the relief of deprivation and in17 stead setting goals, measures, and outcomes 

18 more focused on measuring the success of pro19 grams in supporting and improving how capable 

20 individuals and families can access educational 

21 and economic opportunities to successfully tran22 sition away from accessing public assistance 

23 and benefits and achieving long-term economic 

24 stability which will reduce long-term costs in 

25 domestic social needs programs, reduce longVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H258.IH H258

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1 term health care costs due to the improved 

2 health of formerly poverty stricken households, 

3 increase the number of taxpaying individuals 

4 which will increase revenue, and lower the en5 rollment and costs in need based benefits and 

6 services programs, thus improving the economy 

7 and reducing long-term deficits for Federal, 

8 State, and local governments; 

9 (2) oversee, coordinate, and integrate all poli10 cies and activities of the Federal Government, in co11 ordination and consultation with the Domestic Pol12 icy Council and the National Economic Council, 

13 across all agencies relating to reducing the number 

14 of individuals, families, and children living below the 

15 Federal poverty line, in extreme poverty or near pov16 erty and increasing the number of households able 

17 to achieve long-term economic stability with assets 

18 sufficient to maintain a decent living standard with19 out relying on public supports— 

20 (A) economic, commercial, and pro21 grammatic policies that can effect or relieve the 

22 effects of poverty through job creation, and eco23 nomic development targeted to low income, mi24 nority, rural, urban and other populations who 


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1 suffer disparate rates of poverty, among Fed2 eral agencies; and 

3 (B) services and benefits including emer4 gency programs, discretionary economic pro5 grams, and other policies and activities nec6 essary to ensure that the Federal Government 

7 is able to mount effective responses to economic 

8 downturns and increases in the rates of poverty; 

9 (3) ensure that all relevant Federal agencies 

10 comply with appropriate guidelines, policies, and di11 rectives from the Federal Interagency Working 

12 Group on Reducing Poverty and the Department of 

13 Health and Human Services and other Federal 

14 agencies with responsibilities relating to poverty re15 duction or improving economic stability and inde16 pendence; 

17 (4) ensure that Federal agencies, State govern18 ments and relevant congressional committees have 

19 access to, receive, and appropriately disseminate best 

20 practices in the administration of programs, have 

21 adequate resources to maximize the public awareness 

22 of programs, increase the reach of those programs, 

23 especially into historically disenfranchised commu24 nities, maximize enrollment for all eligible Ameri25 cans, share relevant data, and issue relevant guidVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H258.IH H258

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1 ance in consultation with non-government organiza2 tions and policy experts in the field and State and 

3 local government officials who administer or direct 

4 policy for anti-poverty programs in increasing and 

5 maximizing the enrollment into and administration 

6 of programs and services designed to alleviate pov7 erty; 

8 (5) enact best practices for improved data col9 lection, relevant to— 

10 (A) reducing poverty; 

11 (B) reducing the racial, ethnic, age, gen12 der, and sexual orientation or sexual identity 

13 based disparities in the rates of poverty; 

14 (C) adequately measuring the effectiveness, 

15 efficiency and impact of programs on the out16 comes for individuals, families and communities 

17 who receive benefits and services; 

18 (D) streamlining enrollment and eligibility 

19 for programs; 

20 (E) improving long-term outcomes for indi21 viduals who are enrolled in service and benefit 

22 programs; 

23 (F) reducing reliance on public programs; 

24 (G) improving connections to work; 

25 (H) improving economic stability; 


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1 (I) improving savings and investment, ac2 cess to capital, increasing rates of entrepreneur3 ship; 

4 (J) improving our understanding of the 

5 impact of extreme weather and natural disas6 ters on economically vulnerable communities 

7 and improving those communities’ resilience to 

8 and recovery from extreme weather and natural 

9 disasters; 

10 (K) improving access to living-wage em11 ployment; and 

12 (L) improving access to employment-based 

13 benefits; and 

14 (6) study the feasibility of and test different 

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

16 cooperative service and benefit delivery by creating 

17 necessary exemptions, waivers and funding sources 

18 to allow improved cooperation and innovation in the 

19 development of programs, practices, policies and pro20 cedures that advance the goal of reducing poverty 

21 and increasing economic opportunity. 

22 (b) DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL POVERTY POLICY.— 

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

24 who shall be the head of the Federal Interagency Working 

25 Group on Reducing Poverty. 


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1 SEC. 5. APPOINTMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DI2 RECTOR. 

3 (a) APPOINTMENT.— 

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

5 appointed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

6 Development. 

7 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Secretary shall ap8 point the Staff Director from among individuals who 

9 have demonstrated ability and knowledge in social 

10 policy, improving outcome-based management, issues 

11 of equity and equal opportunity and access to serv12 ices and economic opportunity. 

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

14 (1) advise the Secretary and all relevant cabinet 

15 secretaries, and agency officials regarding the estab16 lishment of policies, goals, objectives, and priorities 

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

18 ending child poverty, ending extreme poverty and 

19 eliminating racial, ethnic, gender, and sexual iden20 tity and orientation based disparities in the rates of 

21 poverty; 

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

23 Secretary, advise relevant cabinet secretaries, heads 

24 of independent Federal agencies and other entities 

25 within the Executive Office of the President regard26 ing mechanisms to improve the effectiveness, coordiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H258.IH H258

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1 nation, impact, and outcomes of social services, ben2 efits, and other poverty reduction and economic op3 portunity programs, in collaboration with experts in 

4 the field, non-governmental organizations, and other 

5 governments; 

6 (3) work with Federal agencies to oversee, co7 ordinate, and integrate the implementation of the 

8 National Plan or Strategy, including consultation 

9 with independent non-governmental policy experts 

10 and service provider groups engaged in serving low11 income persons, children and households, State and 

12 local government officials who administer or direct 

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

14 groups that directly represent low-income people, 

15 such as public housing tenants’ associations, or 

16 other similar groups; and 

17 (4) resolve any disputes that arise between Fed18 eral agencies relating to the National Plan to reduce 

19 poverty in half in ten years or other matters within 

20 the responsibility of the Office. 

21 SEC. 6. CONSULTATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director may consult and ob23 tain recommendations from, as needed, such Presidential 

24 and other advisory entities such as consultation with inde25 pendent non-governmental policy experts and service proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Jan 17, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H258.IH H258

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1 vider groups engaged in serving low-income persons, chil2 dren, and households; State and local government officials 

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

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

5 housing tenants’ associations, or other similar groups as 

6 the Director determines will assist in carrying out the mis7 sion of the Office, including, but not limited to— 

8 (1) the Administration for Children and Fami9 lies (ACF); 

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

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

12 (4) the Bankruptcy Courts; 

13 (5) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec14 tion; 

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

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

17 (8) the Bureau of the Census; 

18 (9) the Center for Nutrition Policy and Pro19 motion; 

20 (10) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Serv21 ices (formerly the Health Care Financing Adminis22 tration); 

23 (11) the Commission on Civil Rights; 

24 (12) the Office of Community Planning and 

25 Development; 


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1 (13) the Consumer Financial Protection Bu2 reau; 

3 (14) the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Jus4 tice and Delinquency Prevention; 

5 (15) the Corporation for National and Commu6 nity Service; 

7 (16) the Council of Economic Advisers; 

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

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

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

11 (20) the Department of Health and Human 

12 Services (HHS); 

13 (21) the Department of Housing and Urban 

14 Development (HUD); 

15 (22) the Department of Justice (DOJ); 

16 (23) the Department of Labor (DOL); 

17 (24) the Department of the Treasury; 

18 (25) the Department of Transportation (DOT); 

19 (26) the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); 

20 (27) the Disability Employment Policy Office; 

21 (28) the Domestic Policy Council; 

22 (29) the Drug Enforcement Administration 

23 (DEA); 

24 (30) the Economic Development Administra25 tion; 


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1 (31) the Economic Research Service; 

2 (32) the English Language Acquisition Office; 

3 (33) the Equal Employment Opportunity Com4 mission (EEOC); 

5 (34) the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity; 

6 (35) the Federal Bureau of Prisons; 

7 (36) the Federal Housing Finance Board; 

8 (37) the Federal Labor Relations Authority; 

9 (38) the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); 

10 (39) the Food and Nutrition Service; 

11 (40) the Indian Health Service; 

12 (41) the Interagency Council on Homelessness; 

13 (42) the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); 

14 (43) the Legal Services Corporation; 

15 (44) the National AIDS Policy Office; 

16 (45) the National Credit Union Administration; 

17 (46) the National Economic Council; 

18 (47) the National Institutes of Health (NIH); 

19 (48) the National Labor Relations Board; 

20 (49) the Occupational Safety & Health Admin21 istration (OSHA); 

22 (50) the Office of Management and Budget 

23 (OMB); 

24 (51) the Office of Refugee Resettlement; 


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1 (52) the Office of Policy Development and Re2 search (Housing and Urban Development Depart3 ment); 

4 (53) the Small Business Administration (SBA); 

5 (54) the Social Security Administration (SSA); 

6 (55) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

7 Services Administration; 

8 (56) the Veterans’ Employment and Training 

9 Service; and 

10 (57) the Women’s Bureau (Labor Department). 

11 (b) NATIONAL STRATEGY.—In developing and updat12 ing the National Strategy the Executive Director shall 

13 consult with the Domestic Policy Council, the National 

14 Economic Council, and, as appropriate, hold regional pub15 lic hearings around the country to collect information and 

16 feedback from the public on their efforts and experience 

17 for the development and updating of the National Strategy 

18 and make this information available to the public. 

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

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Chair of the Federal Inter21 agency Working Group on Reducing Poverty shall submit 

22 an annual report to the appropriate congressional commit23 tees describing the activities, ongoing projects, and plans 

24 of the Federal Government designed to meet the goals and 

25 objectives of the National Strategy on Poverty. The report 


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1 shall include an accounting of the savings to the Govern2 ment from any increased efficiencies in the delivery of 

3 services, any savings from reducing the numbers of Ameri4 cans living in poverty and reductions in the demand for 

5 need based services and benefits for which persons living 

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

7 of any increase in revenue collections due to the numbers 

8 of persons who become gainfully employed and pay taxes 

9 into the Treasury instead of drawing benefits and services 

10 from it. 

11 (b) NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES WORK12 SHOP.—Within 90 days after funds are made available to 

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

14 Services shall contract with the National Academy of 

15 Sciences (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the 

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

17 background information to enable the Working Group on 

18 Reducing Poverty to develop and finalize its plan. 

19 (1) The NAS shall convene a steering com20 mittee to organize, plan, and conduct a public work21 shop on what is known about the economic and so22 cial costs of poverty, including, but not limited to 

23 the following: 

24 (A) Macroeconomic costs (effects on pro25 ductivity and economic output). 


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1 (B) Health costs (effects on health expend2 itures and health status). 

3 (C) Crime and other social costs. 

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

5 outlays for income support and other poverty 

6 reduction programs). 

7 (E) Natural disaster related risks and 

8 costs. 

9 (F) The workshop shall also consider pov10 erty metrics (e.g., income poverty, food insecu11 rity, and other measures of deprivation), and 

12 their role in assessing the effects of poverty and 

13 the performance of anti-poverty programs. 

14 The NAS shall commission experts to prepare pa15 pers that summarize and critique the relevant lit16 erature estimating monetary and non-monetary eco17 nomic and social impacts of poverty. A workshop 

18 summary shall be produced that, along with the pa19 pers, shall be available electronically on the NAS 

20 website. This workshop shall be convened within 6 

21 months of receipt of a contract, the papers posted 

22 immediately, and the summary released by the end 

23 of month. 

24 (2) The NAS steering committee shall organize, 

25 plan, and conduct a second public workshop on what 


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•HR 258 IH

1 is known about the economic and social costs and 

2 benefits of a variety of programs and strategies to 

3 reduce and prevent poverty. It shall take account of 

4 such issues as the following: 

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

6 including budget implications. 

7 (B) Effects for different population 

8 groups, such as children, the elderly, immi9 grants, long-term single-parent families, dis10 placed older workers, young people with large 

11 loans, people in areas of concentrated poverty 

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

13 some inner city areas, some rural areas). 

14 (C) Effects by depth of poverty and near15 poverty (e.g., income to poverty ratios of less 

16 than 50 percent, less than 100 percent, less 

17 than 200 percent). 

18 This second workshop shall be convened within 9 

19 months of receipt of a contract, the papers posted 

20 immediately, and a summary released by the end of 

21 month 12. 

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

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

24 impacts specific to their agency. 


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•HR 258 IH

1 (d) PUBLIC REPORT.—A version of each report sub2 mitted under this section shall be made available to the 

3 public. 

4 (e) LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE.—The Working Group 

5 on Reducing Poverty shall submit, as necessary, legislative 

6 language, including specific legislative recommendations to 

7 the Congress of the United States towards achieving the 

8 national goals. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS