II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3636 

To amend title II of the Public Health Service Act to provide for an improved 

method to measure poverty so as to enable a better assessment of 

the effects of programs under the Public Health Service Act and the 

Social Security Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 26 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mr. DODD (for himself and Mr. BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend title II of the Public Health Service Act to provide 

for an improved method to measure poverty so as to 

enable a better assessment of the effects of programs 

under the Public Health Service Act and the Social Security Act, 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 ‘‘Measuring American 

5 Poverty Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) On January 22, 2008, the House of Rep2 resentatives, by voice vote, passed House Concurrent 

3 Resolution 198 expressing the sense of the Congress 

4 that the United States should set a national goal of 

5 cutting poverty in half over the next 10 years. 

6 (2) The poverty rate is a critical indicator of 

7 how widely shared prosperity is in the economy, and 

8 a key benchmark for targeting resources towards the 

9 most disadvantaged. 

10 (3) The official poverty measure, while helpful, 

11 is based on outdated assumptions and fails to accu12 rately measure economic deprivation or take into ac13 count the availability of many economic resources. 

14 (4) The official poverty measure offers inad15 equate guidance about the effectiveness of public 

16 anti-poverty efforts. 

17 (5) In 1995, the National Academy of Sciences’ 

18 Panel on Poverty and Family Assistance rec19 ommended adoption of an improved poverty meas20 ure, which addresses many shortcomings of the offi21 cial poverty measure and which remains relevant 

22 and offers a starting point for an improved measure. 

23 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. 

24 The purpose of this Act is to provide for an improved 

25 and updated method for measuring the extent to which 


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1 families in the United States have sufficient income to 

2 allow a minimal, socially acceptable, level of consumption 

3 that meets their basic physical needs, including food, shel4 ter (including utilities), clothing, and other necessary 

5 items, in order to better assess the effects of certain poli6 cies and programs in reducing the prevalence and depth 

7 of poverty, to accurately gauge the level of economic depri8 vation, and to ensure appropriate targeting of public re9 sources. 

10 SEC. 4. MODERNIZATION OF THE MEASUREMENT OF POV11 ERTY. 

12 Title II of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 202 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘PART D—MODERNIZATION OF THE 

16 MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY 

17 ‘‘SEC. 271. MODERNIZATION OF THE MEASUREMENT OF 

18 POVERTY. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau of the Census, in 

20 collaboration with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after 

21 consultation about methodology with other Federal statis22 tical agencies and outside experts, shall, to the extent pos23 sible and based on the best available data, calculate mod24 ern poverty thresholds and modern poverty rates as pro25 vided for in subsection (c), for each calendar year (includVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:46 Oct 02, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3636.IS S3636

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1 ing any calendar year before 2009 for which the informa2 tion needed to perform the calculations is available or can 

3 be estimated with a reasonable degree of confidence, as 

4 determined by the Bureau of the Census) in accordance 

5 with this section. 

6 ‘‘(b) MODERN POVERTY THRESHOLDS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) CALCULATION FOR REFERENCE FAMILY.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The modern poverty 

9 threshold for a reference family consisting of 2 

10 adults and their 2 related children shall be an 

11 amount equal to the average of 120 percent of 

12 the 33rd percentile of the distribution of annual 

13 expenditures by such families on food, clothing, 

14 and shelter (including utilities) during each of 

15 the 3 most recent years for which data is avail16 able from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, a 

17 superior Federal government source of data, or 

18 some combination of such sources. 

19 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—Notwithstanding 

20 any other provision of this section, insofar as 

21 the amounts described in subparagraphs (F) 

22 and (G) of subsection (c)(3) are not easily in23 cluded in the distribution of expenditures re24 ferred to in subparagraph (A) of this para25 graph, the Bureau of the Census and the BuVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:46 Oct 02, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3636.IS S3636

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1 reau of Labor Statistics shall develop methods 

2 for including, and shall include, the actual or 

3 estimated amounts in the distribution of ex4 penditures 

5 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT FOR FAMILY SIZE AND COM6 POSITION, AND FOR GEOGRAPHIC COST VARI7 ATION.—The Bureau of the Census shall adjust the 

8 modern poverty threshold calculated under para9 graph (1)— 

10 ‘‘(A) for other family sizes and composi11 tions, using the best available equivalence scales 

12 that consider economies of scale; and 

13 ‘‘(B) to the maximum extent possible, for 

14 differences in the costs for the goods and serv15 ices included in the threshold among States, 

16 sub-State non-metropolitan areas, and metro17 politan areas, based on the best available data 

18 on the costs. 

19 ‘‘(3) ACCOMMODATION OF HOUSING STATUS.— 

20 To the maximum extent possible, the calculation for 

21 the threshold for the reference family described in 

22 paragraph (1) and the adjustments to the modern 

23 poverty thresholds for varied family sizes and com24 positions under paragraph (2)(A) shall be made sepVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:46 Oct 02, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3636.IS S3636

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1 arately for each of the following categories of fami2 lies: 

3 ‘‘(A) Families making rent payments for 

4 their primary residence, or who own their pri5 mary residence and have a mortgage secured by 

6 the residence. 

7 ‘‘(B) Families who own their primary resi8 dence and do not have such a mortgage. 

9 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL PUBLICATION OF WEIGHTED AV10 ERAGE POVERTY THRESHOLDS.—Not less often than 

11 annually, the Bureau of the Census, in collaboration 

12 with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shall publish— 

13 ‘‘(A) the average poverty threshold for 

14 each family size, determined by weighting each 

15 threshold by the proportion of families of that 

16 size to which the threshold applies, and 

17 ‘‘(B) the average poverty threshold for 

18 each family size in each category described in 

19 paragraph (3), determined by weighting each 

20 threshold by the proportion of families of that 

21 size in that category and to which the threshold 

22 applies. 

23 ‘‘(c) MODERN POVERTY RATES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau of the Census 

2 shall use the modern poverty thresholds calculated 

3 under subsection (b) to calculate— 

4 ‘‘(A) the number and percentage of fami5 lies in the United States whose adjusted market 

6 income does not exceed the applicable modern 

7 poverty threshold, and the number and percent8 age of individuals in the United States who are 

9 members of such families; 

10 ‘‘(B) the number and percentage of fami11 lies in the United States whose adjusted dispos12 able income does not exceed the applicable mod13 ern poverty threshold, and the number and per14 centage of individuals in the United States who 

15 are members of such families; and 

16 ‘‘(C) the numbers and percentages de17 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) for var18 ious demographic, geographic, and other sub19 groups of families in the United States, and for 

20 individuals who are members of such subgroups 

21 of families. 

22 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTED MARKET INCOME.—For pur23 poses of this section, the adjusted market income of 

24 a family is— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the total of the amounts received by 

2 any member of the family during a calendar 

3 year from wages, salaries, and self-employment 

4 income, interest income, dividend income, real5 ized capital gains, rents, royalties, estate and 

6 trust income, a qualified retirement plan (as de7 fined in section 4974(c) of the Internal Revenue 

8 Code of 1986), a plan described in section 

9 457(b) of such Code, or any other plan, con10 tract, annuity, or account payments or distribu11 tions from which are in the nature of a retire12 ment benefit, survivor and disability pensions 

13 and annuities, paid-up insurance policies, ali14 mony payments, child support payments, pri15 vate workers’ compensation, regular contribu16 tions from persons not living with the family, 

17 and other relevant income as determined by the 

18 Bureau of the Census except for income de19 scribed in subparagraph (C), (D), (E), or (F) 

20 of paragraph (3) of this subsection; minus 

21 ‘‘(B) the total of the amounts paid by any 

22 member of the family during the calendar year 

23 for alimony or the support or maintenance of a 

24 noncustodial child, or to cover health care ex25 penses or necessary work-related expenses, inVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:46 Oct 02, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3636.IS S3636

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1 cluding child care and transportation expenses, 

2 and capping necessary work-related expenses at 

3 the lesser of the earnings of the parent with 

4 lesser earnings or another reasonable cap tied 

5 to the median expenditures of the reference 

6 family or Federal program and tax credit poli7 cies as determined by the Bureau of the Census 

8 in collaboration with the Bureau of Labor Sta9 tistics. 

10 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTED DISPOSABLE INCOME.—For 

11 purposes of this section, the Bureau of the Census 

12 shall define the adjusted disposable income of a fam13 ily as follows, excluding any amounts that the Bu14 reau of the Census, in collaboration with the Bureau 

15 of Labor Statistics, believes are not included in the 

16 distribution of expenditures referred to in subsection 

17 (b)(1) of this section or whose inclusion in the ad18 justed disposable income of a family would otherwise 

19 be inconsistent with the modern poverty thresholds 

20 described in subsection (b): 

21 ‘‘(A) the adjusted market income of the 

22 family; minus 

23 ‘‘(B) the total of the amounts paid by any 

24 member of the family during the calendar year 

25 to cover Federal income tax liability or Federal 


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1 payroll tax liability, or if such information is 

2 not available, the total of any such liabilities 

3 that are payable by any member of the family 

4 during the calendar year; plus 

5 ‘‘(C) the total of the amounts received by 

6 any member of the family during the calendar 

7 year from refundable Federal tax credits, or if 

8 such information is not available, the total of 

9 any such credits that are expected by any mem10 ber of the family to be received during the cal11 endar year; plus 

12 ‘‘(D) the total of the amounts received by 

13 any member of the family during the calendar 

14 year which may be used to meet food, clothing, 

15 or shelter (including utilities) needs, to the ex16 tent that expenditures of the amounts are taken 

17 into account in determining poverty thresholds 

18 under this section, and which are— 

19 ‘‘(i) referred to in section 

20 459(h)(1)(A)(ii) of the Social Security Act; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(ii) paid under a State program 

23 funded under part A of title IV of the So24 cial Security Act, the supplemental secu25 rity income program under title XVI of 


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1 such Act, or any other Federal program or 

2 activity eligibility for which is based, in 

3 whole or in part, on need; plus 

4 ‘‘(E) the total dollar value of any food as5 sistance benefit (as defined in section 3(d) of 

6 the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008) received 

7 by any member of the family during the cal8 endar year under section 8 of the Food and Nu9 trition Act of 2008; plus 

10 ‘‘(F) the total of the amounts received by 

11 any member of the family during the calendar 

12 year as described in section 2605(b)(2) of the 

13 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 

14 1981; plus 

15 ‘‘(G) the total of the amounts received by 

16 any member of the family during the calendar 

17 year as government-funded nonmedical in-kind, 

18 cash and near cash benefits that help families 

19 meet food, clothing and shelter (including utili20 ties) needs, including nutrition programs, hous21 ing subsidies, and the value of public housing, 

22 not to exceed to the lesser of the share of the 

23 threshold defined in subsection (b) attributable 

24 to the component of the threshold towards 

25 which the benefit may be used or the estimated 


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1 monetary value of the benefit to the recipient, 

2 to the extent possible and to the extent that ex3 penditures of the amounts are taken into ac4 count in determining poverty thresholds under 

5 this section. 

6 ‘‘(4) INCLUSION OF STATE AND LOCAL TAXES

7 AND TRANSFERS.—Within 5 years after the date of 

8 the enactment of this section, the Bureau of the 

9 Census, in collaboration with the Bureau of Labor 

10 Statistics, and after consultation with other relevant 

11 statistical agencies, shall modify the calculation 

12 under paragraph (3) to take account of State and 

13 local taxes and transfers. 

14 ‘‘(d) FAMILIES.—For purposes of this section, the 

15 term ‘family’ includes— 

16 ‘‘(1) an individual who is living alone; 

17 ‘‘(2) all members of a household who are re18 lated by blood, marriage, adoption, or other legal ar19 rangement; and 

20 ‘‘(3) any unrelated individuals living together 

21 whom the Bureau of the Census, after assessing ex22 isting research and undertaking any necessary new 

23 research, determines should be treated as a family 

24 for purposes of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(e) REPORT ON POVERTY RATES.—Not less fre2 quently than annually, the Bureau of the Census shall 

3 produce, and make readily accessible to the public, a re4 port which contains detailed tables and explanations of 

5 poverty rates— 

6 ‘‘(1) as determined on the basis of adjusted 

7 market income; 

8 ‘‘(2) as determined on the basis of adjusted dis9 posable income; and 

10 ‘‘(3) as determined on the basis of the Tradi11 tional Poverty Measure referred to in subsection (f). 

12 ‘‘(f) REFERENCES TO EXISTING POVERTY MEASURE

13 AS THE ‘TRADITIONAL POVERTY MEASURE’.—To the ex14 tent practicable, whenever an officer or employee of the 

15 Federal Government refers to the poverty measure out16 lined in Office of Management and Budget Statistical Pol17 icy Directive 14, the officer or employee, as the case may 

18 be, shall refer to that measure as the ‘Traditional Poverty 

19 Measure’. Any reference in a law, regulation, document, 

20 paper, or other record of the United States to the poverty 

21 measure outlined in Office of Management and Budget 

22 Statistical Policy Directive 14 is deemed to be a reference 

23 to the ‘Traditional Poverty Measure’. 

24 ‘‘(g) INCLUSION OF INFORMATION BASED ON MOD25 ERN POVERTY THRESHOLDS AND RATES IN PUBLISHED


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1 DOCUMENTS CONTAINING INFORMATION BASED ON HIS2 TORICAL POVERTY THRESHOLDS AND RATES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent possible, a 

4 relevant Federal statistical agency that publishes a 

5 document which contains information about a sub6 ject, which was produced using the poverty measure 

7 outlined in Office of Management and Budget Sta8 tistical Policy Directive 14, shall include in the docu9 ment information about the subject, which is pro10 duced using the modern poverty thresholds and mod11 ern poverty rates calculated under this section. 

12 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC RELEASE OF MICRODATA FILE

13 AND ONLINE TOOLS.—On releasing a document de14 scribed in paragraph (1), the Bureau of the Census 

15 shall release to the public— 

16 ‘‘(A) microdata files containing all of the 

17 individual variables that are necessary to com18 pute the published modern poverty rates, as 

19 well as poverty rates determined on the basis of 

20 the Traditional Poverty Measure referred to in 

21 subsection (f), and to calculate poverty rates 

22 using different definitions of income and pov23 erty thresholds; 

24 ‘‘(B) other public online tools that enable 

25 poverty rates to be calculated using different 


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1 definitions of income and poverty thresholds; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(C) the definitions of income set forth in, 

4 and the poverty thresholds established under, 

5 this section. 

6 ‘‘(h) CONSULTATION ON IMPROVING CALCULATION

7 OF THE MODERN POVERTY THRESHOLDS OR MODERN

8 POVERTY RATES; REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—From 

9 time to time, and no less frequently than every 5 years, 

10 the Bureau of the Census, in collaboration with the Bu11 reau of Labor Statistics, shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) consult with other relevant Federal statis13 tical agencies and outside experts on whether the 

14 method of, and sources of data for, calculating the 

15 modern poverty thresholds or modern poverty rates 

16 provided for in this section could be improved so as 

17 to better measure the extent to which families in the 

18 United States are able to secure sufficient income to 

19 allow a minimal, socially acceptable, level of con20 sumption that meets their basic physical needs, in21 cluding food, clothing, shelter (including utilities), 

22 and other necessary items; and 

23 ‘‘(2) report to the Congress on any need for any 

24 such improvement. 


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1 ‘‘(i) NO EFFECT ON BENEFIT PROGRAMS.—This sec2 tion shall not be interpreted to modify or authorize modi3 fication of eligibility of any entity for, or the amount or 

4 kind of benefits or assistance to be provided to any entity 

5 under, any program or activity funded, in whole or in part, 

6 with Federal funds. 

7 ‘‘(j) RELEVANT FEDERAL STATISTICAL AGENCY.— 

8 In this section, the term ‘relevant Federal statistical agen9 cy’ means a Federal agency that— 

10 ‘‘(1) is listed as a major statistical program of 

11 the United States in the annual report most recently 

12 made under section 3504(e)(2) of title 44, United 

13 States Code; or 

14 ‘‘(2) the Bureau of the Census expects to be so 

15 listed in the next such report. 

16 ‘‘(k) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO17 PRIATIONS.—To carry out this section, there are author18 ized to be appropriated to the Bureau of the Census not 

19 more than $5,000,000 for each fiscal year. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 272. STUDY OF DECENT LIVING STANDARD. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau of the Census, in 

22 collaboration with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, shall 

23 enter into a contract with the National Academy of 

24 Sciences which obligates the National Academy of 

25 Sciences to develop and publish a method of calculating 


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1 a decent living standard threshold, including relevant vari2 ations for geography, family size, and other such factors, 

3 and a method of measuring the extent to which the income 

4 of families in the United States is sufficient to meet the 

5 threshold. 

6 ‘‘(b) TECHNICAL SUPPORT.—The Bureau of the Cen7 sus, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other relevant 

8 statistical agencies shall provide necessary technical sup9 port for the efforts to develop the threshold and method 

10 referred to in subsection (a). 

11 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF DECENT LIVING STANDARD

12 THRESHOLD.—In subsection (a), the term ‘decent living 

13 standard threshold’ means the amount of annual income 

14 that would allow an individual to live beyond deprivation 

15 at a safe and decent, but modest, standard of living. 

16 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO17 PRIATIONS.—To carry out this section, there are author18 ized to be appropriated to the Bureau of the Census not 

19 more than $500,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 and 

20 2010. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 273. STUDY OF MEDICAL CARE RISK MEASURE. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau of the Census, in 

23 collaboration with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 

24 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the 

25 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shall enter 


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1 into a contract with the National Academy of Sciences 

2 with obligates the National Academy of Sciences to de3 velop and publish a method of measuring the extent of 

4 medical care risk in the United States and calculating the 

5 number and percentage of individuals in the United States 

6 who, to varying degrees, lack adequate health insurance, 

7 placing them at risk of being unable to afford needed 

8 treatment. 

9 ‘‘(b) TECHNICAL SUPPORT.—The Bureau of the Cen10 sus, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Agency for 

11 Healthcare Research and Quality and the Centers for 

12 Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other relevant statis13 tical agencies shall provide necessary technical support for 

14 the efforts to develop the method and measure referred 

15 to in subsection (a). 

16 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF MEDICAL CARE RISK.—In sub17 section (a), the term ‘medical care risk’ means the extent 

18 to which individuals are at risk of being unable to afford 

19 needed medical treatment, services, goods, and care. 

20 ‘‘(d) LIMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO21 PRIATIONS.—To carry out this section, there are author22 ized to be appropriated to the Bureau of the Census, not 

23 more than $500,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 and 

24 2010.’’. 

Æ 


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