II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6531 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19 (legislative day, MAY 17), 2022 

Received 

AN ACT 

To provide an increased allocation of funding under certain 

programs for assistance in areas of persistent poverty, 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Targeting Resources 

3 to Communities in Need Act of 2022’’. 

4 SEC. 2. INCREASING SHARE OF FEDERAL RESOURCES TO 

5 AREAS OF PERSISTENT POVERTY AND OTHER 

6 HIGH-POVERTY AREAS. 

7 (a) INCREASING SHARE OF FEDERAL RESOURCES.— 

8 (1) GUIDANCE AND MEASURES TO INCREASE

9 FEDERAL INVESTMENTS.—Not later than 1 year 

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, 

11 in consultation with Federal agencies, shall imple12 ment guidance to increase the share of Federal in13 vestments targeted to— 

14 (A) areas of persistent poverty; and 

15 (B) other areas of high and persistent pov16 erty that the Director, in consultation with 

17 Federal agencies, determines to be appropriate. 

18 (2) GUIDANCE FOR AGENCIES.—Not later than 

19 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

20 Director shall issue guidance to Federal agencies 

21 identifying— 

22 (A) the scope and type of programs subject 

23 to the guidance and measures required by para24 graph (1); 


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1 (B) the share of Federal investments to be 

2 targeted to the areas described under para3 graph (1); 

4 (C) the manner in which Federal invest5 ments are to be targeted to the areas described 

6 under paragraph (1); and 

7 (D) measures to track the Federal invest8 ments targeted to the areas described under 

9 paragraph (1) over time. 

10 (3) INVESTMENT AMOUNT.—In developing the 

11 guidance and measures under paragraph (1), the Di12 rector shall include a minimum goal that Federal in13 vestments targeted to areas of persistent poverty or 

14 other areas with high and persistent poverty be in 

15 an amount that is greater than the amount that is 

16 proportional to the population of such areas in the 

17 United States relative to the population of the 

18 United States as a whole. 

19 (4) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Director, in 

20 consultation with Federal agencies, shall submit 

21 each fiscal year to the appropriate committees of 

22 Congress a report that includes— 

23 (A) a list of the programs, by agency, 

24 under which the amount of Federal funds tar25 geted to areas described under paragraph (1) 


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1 were increased in the previous fiscal year, in ac2 cordance with such paragraph; and 

3 (B) for each program listed under sub4 paragraph (A)— 

5 (i) the amount of funds that were tar6 geted under the program to an area of per7 sistent poverty or other area with high and 

8 persistent poverty during the previous fis9 cal year; 

10 (ii) the percent change from the fiscal 

11 year before the previous fiscal year in the 

12 amount of funds that were targeted under 

13 the program toward an area of persistent 

14 poverty or other area with high and per15 sistent poverty; and 

16 (iii) to the extent practicable, an as17 sessment of the economic impact of the 

18 program on the area, including data on the 

19 categories of individuals impacted by the 

20 targeting of funds to such areas under the 

21 program, disaggregated by household in22 come, race, gender, age, national origin, 

23 disability status, and whether the individ24 uals live in an urban area, suburban area, 

25 or rural area. 


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1 (b) PUBLICATION OF LIST OF AREAS OF PERSISTENT

2 POVERTY.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Bureau of the 

5 Census shall publish a list of all areas of persistent 

6 poverty. 

7 (2) UPDATE.—The Bureau of the Census shall 

8 update annually the list published under paragraph 

9 (1). 

10 (c) GAO REPORTS.— 

11 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than two years 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp13 troller General of the United States shall provide to 

14 the appropriate committees of Congress a report on 

15 the effectiveness of the measures implemented under 

16 subsection (a), including an assessment regarding 

17 the impact of increasing Federal investments spent 

18 in areas of persistent poverty and other areas with 

19 high and persistent poverty. 

20 (2) SUBSEQUENT REPORTS.—Not later than 10 

21 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

22 Comptroller General of the United States shall pro23 vide at least two subsequent reports (as described in 

24 paragraph (1)) to the appropriate committees of 

25 Congress. 


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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2023, 

3 $5,000,000 for salaries and expenses (including for enter4 ing contracts with non-Federal persons) to carry out this 

5 Act. 

6 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

7 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON8 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con9 gress’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

11 Committee on the Budget, the Committee on 

12 Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and 

13 the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov14 ernmental Affairs of the Senate; 

15 (B) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

16 Committee on the Budget, the Committee on 

17 Energy and Commerce, the Committee on 

18 Transportation and Infrastructure, and the 

19 Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 

20 House of Representatives; and 

21 (C) any other committee of Congress that 

22 has jurisdiction over an agency with a role de23 veloping or implementing measures under sub24 section (a). 


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1 (2) AREA OF PERSISTENT POVERTY.—The term 

2 ‘‘area of persistent poverty’’ means an area that is 

3 a high-poverty census tract or a persistent poverty 

4 county. 

5 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

6 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg7 et. 

8 (4) HIGH-POVERTY CENSUS TRACT.—The term 

9 ‘‘high-poverty census tract’’ means a census tract 

10 that has a poverty rate of not less than 20 percent 

11 in the most recent American Community Survey 5- 

12 year data published by the Bureau of the Census, 

13 and in the case of areas where no such data is col14 lected from the American Community Survey, such 

15 term includes a census tract with a poverty rate of 

16 not less than 20 percent in the most recent decen17 nial census of population conducted by the Bureau. 

18 (5) PERSISTENT POVERTY COUNTY.—The term 

19 ‘‘persistent poverty county’’ means— 

20 (A) a county, parish, or other equivalent 

21 county division (as determined by the Bureau of 

22 the Census) with a poverty rate of not less than 

23 20 percent in the Small Area Income and Pov24 erty Estimates by the Bureau of the Census in 

25 at least 25 of the last 30 years, including the 


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1 most recent year for which the estimates are 

2 available; or 

3 (B) for areas where Small Area Income 

4 and Poverty Estimates are not available, a 

5 county, parish, or equivalent level of geography, 

6 with a poverty rate of not less than 20 percent 

7 in at least 25 of the last 30 years, including the 

8 most recent year for which an estimate is avail9 able, as determined by the Bureau of the Cen10 sus. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 18, 2022. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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