II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3472 

To require the Bureau of the Census to conduct a survey to determine 

income and poverty levels in the United States in a manner that accounts 

for the receipt of Federal means-tested benefits, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2016 

Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Bureau of the Census to conduct a survey 

to determine income and poverty levels in the United 

States in a manner that accounts for the receipt of 

Federal means-tested benefits, 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 ‘‘Poverty Measurement 

5 Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVING THE MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY IN 

7 THE UNITED STATES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) FEDERAL MEANS-TESTED BENEFIT.—The 

2 term ‘‘Federal means-tested benefit’’ means a ben3 efit, refundable tax credit, or other form of assist4 ance provided under any of the following programs: 

5 (A) CASH AND GENERAL PROGRAMS.— 

6 (i) Supplemental Security Income. 

7 (ii) Earned Income Tax Credit (re8 fundable portion). 

9 (iii) Additional Child Tax Credit. 

10 (iv) Temporary Assistance to Needy 

11 Families. 

12 (v) Title IV–E Foster Care. 

13 (vi) Title IV–E Adoption Assistance. 

14 (vii) Social Security Disability Insur15 ance. 

16 (B) MEDICAL.— 

17 (i) Medicaid. 

18 (ii) State Children’s Health Insurance 

19 Program. 

20 (iii) Refundable Premiums and Out of 

21 Pocket Subsidies under the Patient Protec22 tion and Affordable Health Care Act 

23 (PPACA). 

24 (C) FOOD.— 


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1 (i) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

2 Food Program (Agriculture). 

3 (ii) Women, Infant and Children 

4 (WIC) Food Program (Agriculture). 

5 (iii) School Breakfast (Agriculture). 

6 (D) HOUSING.— 

7 (i) Section 8 Housing (HUD). 

8 (ii) Public Housing (HUD). 

9 (iii) Home Investment Partnership 

10 Program (HUD). 

11 (iv) Rural Housing Insurance Fund 

12 (Agriculture). 

13 (v) Rural Housing Service (Agri14 culture). 

15 (2) HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘‘household’’ 

16 means a householder and one or more people related 

17 to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. 

18 (3) TOTAL FAMILY INCOME.—The term ‘‘total 

19 family income’’ means, with respect to a household, 

20 an amount equal to— 

21 (A) the sum of— 

22 (i) all money income (as defined by 

23 the Bureau of the Census) earned by the 

24 members of the household; and 


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1 (ii) the amount, or cash equivalent, of 

2 all Federal means-tested benefits received 

3 by the members of the household; minus 

4 (B) State and Federal income and payroll 

5 taxes attributable to the members of the house6 hold. 

7 (4) INCOME TAX DATA.—The term ‘‘income tax 

8 data’’ means return information disclosed to the Bu9 reau of the Census under section 6103(j)(1)(A) of 

10 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

11 (5) ADMINISTERING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘ad12 ministering agency’’ means a State or Federal agen13 cy responsible for administering a Federal means14 tested benefit, and includes the following agencies: 

15 (A) The Social Security Administration. 

16 (B) The Department of the Treasury. 

17 (C) The Department of Health and 

18 Human Services. 

19 (D) The Department of Housing and 

20 Urban Development. 

21 (E) The Department of Agriculture. 

22 (6) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA23 TION.—The term ‘‘personally identifiable informa24 tion’’ means any information that identifies an indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Nov 19, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3472.IS S3472

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1 vidual or could reasonably be used to identify an in2 dividual that is— 

3 (A) collected pursuant to a survey con4 ducted by the Bureau of the Census; or 

5 (B) disclosed to the Bureau of the Census 

6 by an administering agency for the purpose of 

7 carrying out subsection (b). 

8 (7) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

9 the Director of the Bureau of the Census. 

10 (b) NEW POVERTY MEASUREMENT LINKING SUR11 VEY, ADMINISTRATIVE, AND INCOME DATA.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each fiscal year during the 

13 period that begins with fiscal year 2017 and ends 

14 with fiscal year 2027, in order to more accurately 

15 determine the extent of poverty in the United States 

16 and the anti-poverty effectiveness of means-tested 

17 benefit and tax programs, the Director shall conduct 

18 a new survey of income and poverty in the United 

19 States, and shall supplement and verify the informa20 tion obtained pursuant to such survey using the fol21 lowing: 

22 (A) Data from the most recent available 

23 Current Population Survey. 

24 (B) Data furnished by administering agen25 cies. 


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1 (C) Income tax data. 

2 (2) ADMINISTERING AGENCY DATA.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The head of each ad4 ministering agency shall make available to the 

5 Director such data (including income tax data) 

6 as the Director shall require for the purpose of 

7 carrying out this subsection. 

8 (B) PAYMENT OF EXPENSES.—The Direc9 tor shall pay for the data described in subpara10 graphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (1) in such 

11 amount, if any (not exceeding the cost of fur12 nishing the data), as may be determined by the 

13 head of the applicable agency that furnishes the 

14 data. 

15 (3) PUBLICATION OF SURVEY DATA.— 

16 (A) SURVEY METHODS AND RESPONSES.— 

17 The Director of the Bureau of the Census shall 

18 publish the methods used to carry out the sur19 vey required under paragraph (1), the number 

20 of households surveyed, the rate of responses, 

21 and the extent of survey completion. 

22 (B) RATES AND OTHER DATA.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the 

24 Bureau of the Census shall produce tables 

25 and graphs showing for each year the povVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Nov 19, 2016 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3472.IS S3472

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1 erty rates and related data calculated 

2 using the survey responses and other data 

3 collected under paragraph (1), including— 

4 (I) the total family income for 

5 survey respondents; 

6 (II) a breakdown of the amount 

7 of income taxes and payroll taxes paid 

8 by survey respondents; and 

9 (III) for 2018 and subsequent 

10 years, poverty rates calculated using 

11 updated poverty thresholds as de12 scribed in clause (ii). 

13 (ii) UPDATED POVERTY THRESH14 OLDS.—For 2018 and subsequent years, 

15 the Director shall adjust the poverty 

16 thresholds used for determining poverty 

17 rates by using the personal consumer ex18 penditure price index (as published by the 

19 Bureau of Economic Analysis). 

20 (C) CREATION OF A PUBLIC DATABASE.— 

21 The Director shall create a database, available 

22 at the Director’s discretion to researchers who 

23 meet the security requirements described in 

24 subsection (c)(4), that contains— 


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1 (i) data from the survey required 

2 under paragraph (1); and 

3 (ii) data described in subparagraphs 

4 (A) and (B) of paragraph (1). 

5 (D) NO PUBLICATION OF PERSONALLY

6 IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.—The Director 

7 shall ensure that no personally identifiable in8 formation is included in any publication of sur9 vey information or other data collected under 

10 this section, including the database created pur11 suant to subparagraph (C). 

12 (c) PROTECTION AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONALLY

13 IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The security, disclosure, and 

15 confidentiality provisions set forth in this Act and 

16 sections 9 and 23 of title 13, United States Code, 

17 shall apply to personally identifiable information ob18 tained by the Bureau of the Census pursuant to this 

19 Act. 

20 (2) ASSIGNMENT OF RECORD IDENTIFICATION

21 KEYS.—All personally identifiable information shall 

22 be removed from individual records, which shall be 

23 given record identification keys for purposes of iden24 tification. 


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1 (3) STAFF ACCESS TO PERSONALLY IDENTIFI2 ABLE INFORMATION.—An officer or employee of the 

3 Bureau of the Census or a representative from an 

4 administering agency may access personally identifi5 able information if such officer, employee, or rep6 resentative has the special sworn status require7 ments implemented by the Bureau of the Census 

8 under section 9 and section 23 of title 13, United 

9 States Code. 

10 (4) PUBLIC ACCESS TO PERSONALLY IDENTIFI11 ABLE INFORMATION.—The Director may disclose 

12 personally identifiable information to an individual 

13 who has special sworn status as implemented by the 

14 Bureau of the Census under section 9 and section 

15 23 of title 12, United States Code. 

16 (5) PENALTIES.—Any individual who knowingly 

17 accesses or discloses personally identifiable informa18 tion in violation of this section shall be guilty of a 

19 felony and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in 

20 an amount of not more than $300,000 under title 

21 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not more 

22 than five years, or both. 

23 (6) INADMISSIBILITY OF SURVEY DATA.—Data 

24 contained in a response to a survey conducted pur25 suant to subsection (b)(1) shall not be admissible as 


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1 evidence in any proceeding of any court, agency, 

2 board, or other entity. 

3 (d) STATE REPORTING OF FEDERAL MEANS-TESTED

4 DATA.—Beginning with the first full calendar year that 

5 begins after the date of enactment of this Act, with respect 

6 to any Federal means-tested benefit that is administered 

7 at the State level by a State administering agency, such 

8 State administering agency shall submit each year to the 

9 Federal administering agency responsible for admin10 istering the benefit at the Federal level a report that iden11 tifies each household that received such benefits during 

12 such year by the social security number of the head of 

13 the household and the amount, or cash equivalent, of such 

14 benefit received by such household. 

15 (e) COMPARISON OF INDIVIDUAL SURVEY DATA TO

16 CONSUMER EXPENDITURE SURVEY.—Beginning with the 

17 first full calendar year that begins after the date of enact18 ment of this Act and each year thereafter, the Bureau of 

19 the Census shall, in coordination with the Bureau of 

20 Labor Statistics, provide summary statistics comparing 

21 the income levels (constructed using all available adminis22 trative, income, and Current Population Survey data) of 

23 respondents to the Consumer Expenditure Survey con24 ducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to the consump25 tion habits of such respondents. 


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1 (f) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

3 of the United States shall submit a report to Congress 

4 comparing the income measure created in section 3 to the 

5 income measure used by the Bureau of the Census for pur6 poses of calculating the supplemental poverty measure. 

Æ 


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