I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2055 

To provide an increased allocation of funding under certain programs for 

assistance in persistent poverty counties, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2019 

Mr. CLYBURN (for himself, Ms. BASS, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, 

Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, 

Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COX of California, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. MICHAEL

F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. 

GOMEZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. 

JEFFRIES, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KELLY

of Illinois, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEWIS, Mrs. 

MCBATH, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MOORE, Ms. NORTON, Ms. 

OMAR, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. PLASKETT, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. 

RICHMOND, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. SOTO, 

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. VEASEY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, 

Energy and Commerce, Education and Labor, Science, Space, and Technology, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, and Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide an increased allocation of funding under certain 

programs for assistance in persistent poverty counties, 

and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘An Act Targeting Re5 sources to Communities in Need’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘de9 velopment program’’ means any of the following pro10 grams, offices, or appropriations accounts: 

11 (A) Any program administered by the Of12 fice of Rural Development of the Department of 

13 Agriculture. 

14 (B) The Appalachian Regional Commis15 sion. 

16 (C) Department of Commerce, Economic 

17 Development Administration, Economic Devel18 opment Assistance Programs. 

19 (D) The Delta Regional Authority. 

20 (E) The Denali Commission. 

21 (F) Any training or employment services 

22 program administered by the Employment and 

23 Training Administration of the Department of 

24 Labor. 


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1 (G) Department of Health and Human 

2 Services, Health Resources and Services Admin3 istration. 

4 (H) Environmental Protection Agency, 

5 State and Tribal Assistance Grants. 

6 (I) Department of Commerce, National In7 stitute of Standards and Technology, Construc8 tion. 

9 (J) Any program under the Juvenile Jus10 tice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 

11 (34 U.S.C. 1111 et seq.). 

12 (K) The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

13 Assistance Grant Program under subpart 1 of 

14 part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

15 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 

16 et seq.). 

17 (L) A victim services programs for victims 

18 of trafficking, as authorized by section 

19 107(b)(2) of Public Law 106–386. 

20 (M) Any program authorized under the 

21 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization 

22 Act of 2005. 

23 (N) Any program authorized under the Vi24 olence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 

25 2013. 


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1 (O) Paul Coverdell Forensic Sciences Im2 provement Grants under part BB of title I of 

3 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

4 Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10561 et seq.). 

5 (P) DNA-related and forensic programs 

6 and activities grants under part X of the Omni7 bus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

8 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10511 et seq.). 

9 (Q) A grant program for community-based 

10 sexual assault response reform grants under 

11 part T of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

12 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10441et seq.). 

13 (R) The court-appointed special advocate 

14 program, as authorized by section 217 of the 

15 Crime Control Act of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 20323). 

16 (S) A program under subtitle C of title II 

17 of the Second Chance Act of 2007 (34 U.S.C. 

18 60541 et seq.). 

19 (T) The COPS ON THE BEAT program 

20 under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

21 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

22 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.). 

23 (U) The Comprehensive Opioid Abuse 

24 Grant Program under part LL of title I of the 


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1 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

2 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10701 et seq.). 

3 (V) A grant under section 220531 of title 

4 36, United States Code. 

5 (W) The program authorized under Part 

6 AA of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

7 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10551 et 

8 seq.). 

9 (X) Department of Transportation, Office 

10 of the Secretary, Nationally Significant Freight 

11 and Highway Projects. 

12 (Y) Department of Transportation, Office 

13 of the Secretary, National Infrastructure In14 vestments. 

15 (Z) Department of Transportation, Fed16 eral Transit Administration, Bus and Bus Fa17 cilities Infrastructure Investment Program. 

18 (AA) Department of Transportation, Fed19 eral Transit Administration, Capital Investment 

20 Grants Program. 

21 (BB) Any program of the Department of 

22 the Treasury relating to Community Develop23 ment Financial Institutions (within the mean24 ing of section 103 of the Community DevelopVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2055.IH H2055

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1 ment Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 

2 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702)). 

3 (CC) The Southeast Crescent Regional 

4 Commission. 

5 (DD) The Northern Border Regional Com6 mission. 

7 (EE) The Southwest Border Regional 

8 Commission. 

9 (FF) The Northern Great Plains Regional 

10 Authority. 

11 (GG) The Fair Housing Initiatives Pro12 gram under section 561 of the Housing and 

13 Community Development Act of 1987 (42 

14 U.S.C. 3616a). 

15 (HH) The grant program under section 

16 4611 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7261). 

18 (2) PERSISTENT POVERTY COUNTY.—The term 

19 ‘‘persistent poverty county’’ means any county with 

20 a poverty rate of at least 20 percent, as determined 

21 in each of the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses, 

22 and in the Bureau of the Census’s Small Area In23 come and Poverty Estimates for the most recent 

24 year for which the estimates are available. 


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1 (3) HIGH-POVERTY AREA.—The term ‘‘high2 poverty area’’ means a census tract with a poverty 

3 rate of at least 20 percent during the 5 years most 

4 recently ending before the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act. 

6 SEC. 3. 10–20–30 FORMULA FOR PERSISTENT POVERTY 

7 COUNTIES. 

8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the enti9 ty responsible for administering a development program 

10 shall use not less than 10 percent of the amounts made 

11 available in any appropriations Act for the program for 

12 any of fiscal years 2019 through 2028, in persistent pov13 erty counties, if the entity is otherwise authorized to do 

14 so. 

15 SEC. 4. TARGETING HIGH-POVERTY CENSUS TRACTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi17 sion of law, the entity responsible for administering a de18 velopment program shall use not less than the amount de19 scribed in subsection (b) of the amounts made available 

20 in any appropriations Act for the program for any of fiscal 

21 years 2019 through 2028, for projects in high-poverty 

22 areas, if the entity is otherwise authorized to do so. 

23 (b) AMOUNT DESCRIBED.—The amount described in 

24 this subsection with respect to a program is an amount 

25 equal to the sum of— 


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1 (1) the average percentage of Federal assist2 ance awarded under the program in the 3 fiscal 

3 years most recently ending before the date of the en4 actment of this Act that were used for projects in 

5 high-poverty areas; plus 

6 (2) 5 percent of the average total Federal loan 

7 and grant funds awarded under the program in the 

8 3 fiscal years referred to in paragraph (1). 

9 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—If an entity responsible 

10 for administering a development program determines that 

11 the provision of benefits under the program in a particular 

12 census tract actually benefits individuals predominantly 

13 living in other census tracts, then the entity shall, within 

14 3 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, in15 form the Director of the Office of Management and Budg16 et and the Congress that it would be more appropriate 

17 to track the provision of benefits under the program based 

18 on the census tracts in which the individuals who actually 

19 receive the benefits reside and on whether the benefits 

20 serve individuals who reside in predominantly low-income 

21 census tracts. 

22 SEC. 5. FAILURE TO USE FUNDS. 

23 If the entity responsible for administering a develop24 ment program does not comply with section 4 with respect 

25 to the program for a fiscal year, the entity shall submit 


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1 to the Congress a report that describes how the entity 

2 plans to do so in the next fiscal year. 

3 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

4 Within 6 months after the end of fiscal year 2019 

5 and within 6 months after the end of each fiscal year 

6 thereafter, the entity responsible for administering each 

7 development program shall submit to the Congress a 

8 progress report on the implementation of this Act with re9 spect to the development program. 

Æ 


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