I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 625

To expand the purposes of the program of block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy families to include poverty reduction, and 

to make grants available under the program for that purpose. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2003

Mr. STARK (for himself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, 

Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 

FORD, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. 

KUCINICH, Ms. LEE, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. 

MCNULTY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

OWENS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Mr. RUSH, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. WATSON, 

and Mr. WAXMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To expand the purposes of the program of block grants 

to States for temporary assistance for needy families 

to include poverty reduction, and to make grants available under the program for that purpose.

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 ‘‘Child Poverty Reduc3 tion Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL PURPOSE OF PROGRAM OF BLOCK 

5 GRANTS TO STATES FOR TEMPORARY ASSIST6 ANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES. 

7 Section 401(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 601(a)) is amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

10 (3); 

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of para12 graph (4) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(5) reduce the extent and severity of poverty 

15 and promote self-sufficiency among families with 

16 children.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. ADDITION OF CHILD POVERTY REDUCTION BONUS 

18 GRANTS TO TANF PROGRAM. 

19 Section 403(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 603(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(6) BONUS TO REWARD STATES THAT REDUCE

22 CHILD POVERTY.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning with fiscal 

24 year 2003, the Secretary shall make a grant 

25 pursuant to this paragraph to each State for 
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1 each fiscal year for which the State is a quali2 fied child poverty reduction State. 

3 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to this 

5 subparagraph, the amount of the grant to 

6 be made to a qualified child poverty reduc7 tion State for a fiscal year shall be an 

8 amount equal to—

9 ‘‘(I) the number of children who 

10 had not attained 18 years of age by 

11 the end of the then most recently 

12 completed calendar year and who re13 sided in the State as of the end of 

14 such calendar year, divided by the 

15 number of such children who resided 

16 in the United States as of the end of 

17 such calendar year; multiplied by 

18 ‘‘(II) the amount appropriated 

19 pursuant to subparagraph (F) for the 

20 fiscal year. 

21 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATIONS.—

22 ‘‘(I) MINIMUM GRANT.—The 

23 amount of the grant to be made to a 

24 qualified child poverty reduction State 
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1 for a fiscal year shall be not less than 

2 $1,000,000. 

3 ‘‘(II) MAXIMUM GRANT.—The 

4 amount of the grant to be made to a

5 qualified child poverty reduction State 

6 for a fiscal year shall not exceed an 

7 amount equal to 5 percent of the 

8 State family assistance grant for the 

9 fiscal year. 

10 ‘‘(iii) PRO RATA INCREASE.—If the 

11 amount available for grants under this 

12 paragraph for a fiscal year is greater than 

13 the total amount of payments otherwise re14 quired to be made under this paragraph 

15 for the fiscal year, then the amount other16 wise payable to any State for the fiscal 

17 year under this paragraph shall, subject to 

18 clause (ii)(II), be increased by such equal 

19 percentage as may be necessary to ensure 

20 that the total of the amounts payable for 

21 the fiscal year under this paragraph equals 

22 the amount available for the grants. 

23 ‘‘(iv) PRO RATA REDUCTION.—If the 

24 amount available for grants under this 

25 paragraph for a fiscal year is less than the 
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1 total amount of payments otherwise re2 quired to be made under this paragraph 

3 for the fiscal year, then the amount other4 wise payable to any State for the fiscal 

5 year under this paragraph shall, subject to 

6 clause (ii)(I), be reduced by such equal 

7 percentage as may be necessary to ensure 

8 that the total of the amounts payable for 

9 the fiscal year under this paragraph equals 

10 the amount available for the grants. 

11 ‘‘(C) USE OF GRANT.—A State to which a 

12 grant is made under this paragraph shall use 

13 the grant for any purpose for which a grant 

14 made under this part may be used. 

15 ‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(i) QUALIFIED CHILD POVERTY RE17 DUCTION STATE.—The term ‘qualified 

18 child poverty reduction State’ means, with 

19 respect to a fiscal year, a State if—

20 ‘‘(I) the child poverty rate 

21 achieved by the State for the then 

22 most recently completed calendar year 

23 for which such information is avail24 able is less than the lowest child pov-
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1 erty rate achieved by the State during 

2 the applicable period; and 

3 ‘‘(II) the average depth of child 

4 poverty in the State for the then most 

5 recently completed calendar year for 

6 which such information is available is 

7 not greater than the average depth of 

8 child poverty in the State for the cal9 endar year that precedes such then 

10 most recently completed calendar 

11 year. 

12 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—In clause 

13 (i), the term ‘applicable period’ means, 

14 with respect to a State and the calendar 

15 year referred to in clause (i)(I), the period 

16 that—

17 ‘‘(I) begins with the calendar 

18 year that, as of October 1, 2002, pre19 cedes the then most recently com20 pleted calendar year for which such 

21 information is available; and 

22 ‘‘(II) ends with the calendar year 

23 that precedes the calendar year re24 ferred to clause (i)(I). 
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1 ‘‘(iii) CHILD POVERTY RATE.—The 

2 term ‘child poverty rate’ means, with re3 spect to a State and a calendar year, the 

4 percentage of children residing in the State 

5 during the calendar year whose family in6 come for the calendar year is less than the 

7 poverty line then applicable to the family. 

8 ‘‘(iv) AVERAGE DEPTH OF CHILD POV9 ERTY.—The term ‘average depth of child 

10 poverty’ means with respect to a State and 

11 a calendar year, the average dollar amount 

12 by which family income is exceeded by the 

13 poverty line, among children in the State 

14 whose family income for the calendar year 

15 is less than the applicable poverty line. 

16 ‘‘(v) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘pov17 erty line’ has the meaning given the term 

18 in section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget 

19 Reconciliation Act of 1981, including any 

20 revision required by such section applicable 

21 to a family of the size involved. 

22 ‘‘(E) FAMILY INCOME DETERMINATIONS.—

23 For purposes of this paragraph, family income 

24 includes cash income, child support payments, 

25 child care payments, government cash pay-
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1 ments, and benefits under the Food Stamp Act 

2 of 1977 that are received by any family mem3 ber, and family income shall be determined 

4 after payment of all taxes and receipt of any 

5 tax refund or rebate by any family member. 

6 ‘‘(F) APPROPRIATIONS.—

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Out of any money 

8 in the Treasury of the United States not 

9 otherwise appropriated, there are appro10 priated for fiscal year 2003 and each fiscal 

11 year thereafter $150,000,000 for grants 

12 under this paragraph. 

13 ‘‘(ii) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts made 

14 available under clause (i) shall remain 

15 available until expended.’’.

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