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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3300 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3300

To establish the Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty 
   which will create and carry out a national plan to cut poverty in 
                     America in half in ten years.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 1, 2011

 Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Mr. Stark, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, 
Mr. Baca, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Butterfield, 
  Mr. Serrano, Ms. Brown of Florida, and Mr. Kucinich) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
                           Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To establish the Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty 
   which will create and carry out a national plan to cut poverty in 
                     America in half in ten years.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Half in Ten Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Poverty can be seen as a deep, structural problem that 
        implicates our value system and our educational and economic 
        institutions.
            (2) Poverty may be defined as the lack of basic necessities 
        of life such as food, shelter, clothing, health care, 
        education, economic security, and economic opportunity.
            (3) Policy initiatives and many safety net programs 
        addressing poverty have not kept pace with the needs of 
        millions of Americans.
            (4) The lack of an equitable distribution of housing 
        choices across the country leads to isolation and concentrated 
        poverty.
            (5) The number of Americans living in poverty rose by over 
        2.6 million from 2009 to 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, September 
        2011).
            (6) There were 46.2 million Americans living in poverty in 
        2010, consisting of 15.1 percent of the American people (U.S. 
        Census Bureau, September 2011).
            (7) Poverty has a disproportionate impact on minority 
        communities in America with 27.4 percent of African-Americans, 
        26.6 percent of Hispanics, 12.1 percent of Asian Americans, and 
        9.9 percent of Whites living in poverty in the United States in 
        2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, September 2011).
            (8) In 2010 a family of 4 was considered poor under the 
        U.S. Census Bureau's official measure if the family's income 
        was below $22,314.
            (9) The economic consequences of poverty in the United 
        States are estimated to be at least $500 billion per year 
        (Center for American Progress, 2007).
            (10) Children who grow up in poverty experience higher 
        crime rates, decreased productivity, and higher health costs 
        over their lives (Center for American Progress, 2007).
            (11) 3,500,000 seniors lived in poverty in 2010 (U.S. 
        Census Bureau, 2011).
            (12) Young Americans, ages 18-24, experience a higher 
        poverty rate than the national average (U.S. Census Bureau, 
        2011).
            (13) 16,400,000 children lived in poverty in 2010--more 
        than one in every five American children (U.S. Census Bureau, 
        2011).
            (14) Almost 35 percent of African-American children and 
        over 30 percent of Hispanic children lived in poverty in 2009 
        (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).
            (15) The 46,180,000 of Americans in poverty in 2010 was the 
        largest number yet recorded in the 52 years for which poverty 
        estimates are available (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).
            (16) Children who live in families who fall into poverty 
        for even short periods of time are at greater risk of a 
        lifetime of lower earnings, lower educational attainment, and 
        increased reliance on public services and increased rates of 
        incarceration (First Focus, 2008).
            (17) It is estimated that the additional 3 million children 
        who were forced into poverty due to the recession of 2008, 
        resulted in $35 billion in economic losses annually, and will 
        cause at least $1.7 trillion in economic losses to the United 
        States during their lifetimes (First Focus, 2008).
            (18) Reducing poverty, especially child poverty, not only 
        reduces costs for Federal, State, and local social services and 
        benefits programs, but also increases tax revenue at all levels 
        of government (Children's Defense Fund, 2009).
            (19) The House of Representatives, on January 22, 2008, has 
        resolved that it is the sense of Congress that the United 
        States should set a national goal of cutting poverty in half 
        over the next 10 years.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' means any 
        executive department, Government corporation, Government-
        controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive 
        branch of the Government (including the Executive Office of the 
        President), or any independent regulatory agency.
            (2) Poverty.--The term ``poverty'' means an income level 
        and living standard associated with and based on the official 
        poverty measure as established and updated by the U.S. Census 
        Bureau which establishes a threshold of minimum income 
        necessary to achieve a standard of living free from deprivation 
        of basic needs.
            (3) Extreme poverty.--The term ``extreme poverty'' means 
        having an income level or living standard at a level of extreme 
        deprivation based on living with income below 50 percent of the 
        Federal poverty line as established by the U.S. Census.
            (4) Near poverty.--The term ``near poverty'' means having a 
        level of household income below 200 percent of the Federal 
        poverty line.
            (5) Child poverty.--The term ``child poverty'' means 
        poverty which impacts those persons under 18 years of age.
            (6) Deprivation.--The term ``deprivation'' means lacking 
        some or all basic human needs.
            (7) Decent living standard.--The term ``decent living 
        standard'' means the amount of annual income that would allow 
        an individual to live beyond deprivation at a safe and decent, 
        but modest, standard of living.
            (8) Alternative poverty measures.--The term ``alternative 
        poverty measures'' means measures and indicators, other than 
        the traditional income based measure of poverty, which can 
        provide a more detailed picture of the low-income and poverty 
        stricken populations, such as the number of people who were 
        kept above poverty by Government supports, the number of people 
        who are poor due to medical expenses, child care, and work 
        expenses, the rates of food insecurity, the number of people 
        who are asset poor (with less than three months of income 
        saved), the number of disconnected youth, teen birth rates, 
        participation rates in Federal anti-poverty programs for all 
        eligible populations, and the number of people who are 
        unbanked.
            (9) Regional costs of living.--The term ``regional costs of 
        living'' means a measure of the differing costs of maintaining 
        a given living standard in varying regional, geographic, urban 
        or rural regions.
            (10) Economic insecurity.--The term ``economic insecurity'' 
        means the inability of individuals and households to cope with 
        routine adverse or costly life events and the lack of means to 
        maintain a decent standard of living and to recover from the 
        costly consequences of those events.
            (11) Economic stability.--The term ``economic stability'' 
        means individuals and households have access to the means and 
        support systems necessary to effectively cope with adverse or 
        costly life events and have the ability to effectively recover 
        from the consequences of those events while maintaining their 
        standard of living or maintaining a decent standard of living.
            (12) Digital divide.--The term ``digital divide'' means the 
        gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic 
        areas at different socio-economic levels with regard to both 
        their access information and communications technologies and 
        including the imbalance both in physical access to technology 
        and the resources, education and skills needed to effectively 
        use computer technology and the Internet for a wide variety of 
        activities.
            (13) Outcomes.--The term ``outcomes'' means change in the 
        economic status, economic instability or economic security of 
        an individual, household or other population which is 
        attributable to a planned intervention, benefit, or service or 
        series of interventions, benefits, and services, regardless of 
        whether such an intervention was intended to change such 
        economic status.
            (14) Disparate impact.--The term ``disparate impact'' 
        refers to the historic and ongoing impacts of the pattern and 
        practice of discrimination in employment, education, housing, 
        banking and nearly every other aspect of American life in the 
        economy, society or culture that have an adverse impact on 
        minorities, women, or other protected groups, regardless of 
        whether such practices were motivated by discriminatory intent.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON 
              REDUCING POVERTY.

    (a) Establishment of Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing 
Poverty.--There is established within the Department of Health and 
Human Services, a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing 
Poverty, which shall be chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, and whose members shall be selected by their respective 
agency heads from the senior ranks of their agencies, which shall--
            (1) develop, within 180 days of enactment, a National Plan 
        or Strategy to reduce the number of persons living in poverty 
        in America in half within 10 years of the release of the 2011 
        Census report on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage 
        in the United States: 2010, that includes goals and objectives 
        relating to--
                    (A) reducing in half the number of Americans living 
                in poverty as reported by the 2011 Census report on 
                Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the 
                United States: 2010;
                    (B) eliminating child poverty in America;
                    (C) eliminating extreme poverty in America;
                    (D) improving the effectiveness and outcomes of 
                poverty related programs by improving our understanding 
                of the root causes of poverty, the social, economic, 
                and the cultural contributors to persistent 
                intergenerational poverty;
                    (E) improving the measure of poverty to include 
                more indicators and measures that can meaningfully 
                account for other aspects relating to the measure of 
                poverty, such as regional differences in costs of 
                living, the impact of rising income inequality, the 
                impact of the persistent ``digital divide'', expanding 
                the understanding of poverty by distinguishing a 
                standard that measures a level of freedom from 
                deprivation versus a standard that measures a standard 
                of economic adequacy provided by a living wage and 
                access to a decent living standard, and the impact of 
                poverty on other measures of economic stability and 
                economic outcomes, such as educational attainment, 
                rates of incarceration, lifetime earnings, access to 
                healthcare, healthcare outcomes, access to housing, and 
                including other measures as necessary to improve our 
                understanding of why poverty persists in America;
                    (F) eliminating the disparate rates of poverty 
                based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, or sexual 
                orientation and identity, especially among children in 
                those households so impacted;
                    (G) measuring effectiveness of poverty related 
                programs on the basis of long term outcomes, including 
                the long term savings and value of preventive practice 
                and policy, and employing fact based measures of 
                programs to make improvements;
                    (H) improving the accessibility of benefit and 
                social services programs, reducing the complexity and 
                difficulty of enrollment, and improving the rates of 
                enrollment in need based programs for all eligible 
                recipients to maximize the impact of benefits and 
                social services programs on reducing the impacts of 
                poverty and improving economic outcomes;
                    (I) expanding eligibility to improve the 
                coordination of service delivery, reduce gaps in 
                eligibility, and improve outcomes of programs 
                addressing poverty in the Federal Government;
                    (J) reducing the negative impact of asset limits on 
                eligibility for Federal programs on the effectiveness 
                of programs where limited eligibility creates gaps in 
                necessary service and benefit delivery, and in access 
                which prevents needy beneficiaries from improving long 
                term outcomes and achieving long term economic 
                independence from need based programs;
                    (K) improving the access of poor, low-income, and 
                the unemployed to good jobs with adequate wages and 
                benefits;
                    (L) expanding and stabilizing poor and low income 
                persons connection to work;
                    (M) developing a comprehensive strategy to connect 
                low-income young people and to re-connect currently 
                disconnected youth to education, work, and their 
                community; and
                    (N) shifting the focus of poverty and human needs 
                programs across the Federal Government beyond the 
                relief of deprivation to instead setting goals, 
                measures, and outcomes related to helping individuals 
                and families rise up and out of poverty and achieving 
                long term economic stability which will reduce long 
                term costs in domestic social needs programs, reduce 
                long term healthcare costs due to the improved health 
                of formerly poverty stricken households, increase the 
                number of tax paying individuals which will increase 
                revenue, and lower the enrollment and costs in need 
                based benefits and services programs, thus improving 
                the economy and reducing long term deficits for 
                Federal, State, and local governments;
            (2) oversee, coordinate, and integrate all policies and 
        activities of the Federal Government, in coordination and 
        consultation with the Domestic Policy Council and the National 
        Economic Council, across all agencies relating to reducing the 
        number of individuals, families, and children living below the 
        Federal poverty line, in extreme poverty or near poverty and 
        increasing the number of households able to achieve long-term 
        economic stability with assets sufficient to maintain a decent 
        living standard without relying on public supports--
                    (A) economic, commercial, and programmatic policies 
                that can effect or relieve the effects of poverty 
                through job creation, and economic development targeted 
                to low income, minority, rural, urban and other 
                populations who suffer disparate rates of poverty, 
                among Federal agencies; and
                    (B) services and benefits including emergency 
                programs, discretionary economic programs, and other 
                policies and activities necessary to ensure that the 
                Federal Government is able to mount effective responses 
                to economic downturns and increases in the rates of 
                poverty;
            (3) ensure that all relevant Federal agencies and 
        congressional committees comply with appropriate guidelines, 
        policies, and directives from the Federal Interagency Working 
        Group on Reducing Poverty and the Department of Health and 
        Human Services and other Federal agencies with responsibilities 
        relating to poverty reduction or improving economic stability 
        and independence;
            (4) ensure that Federal agencies have access to, receive, 
        and appropriately disseminate best practices in the 
        administration of programs, have adequate resources to maximize 
        the public awareness of programs, increase the reach of those 
        programs, especially into historically disenfranchised 
        communities, maximize enrollment for all eligible Americans, 
        share relevant data, and issue relevant guidance in 
        consultation with non-government organizations and policy 
        experts in the field and State and local government officials 
        who administer or direct policy for anti-poverty programs in 
        increasing and maximizing the enrollment into and 
        administration of programs and services designed to alleviate 
        poverty; and
            (5) enact best practices for improved data collection, 
        relevant to--
                    (A) reducing poverty;
                    (B) reducing the racial, ethnic, age, gender, and 
                sexual orientation or sexual identity based disparities 
                in the rates of poverty;
                    (C) the effectiveness and efficiency of programs;
                    (D) streamlining enrollment and eligibility for 
                programs;
                    (E) improving long term outcomes for programs;
                    (F) reducing reliance on public programs;
                    (G) improving connections to work;
                    (H) improving economic stability;
                    (I) improving savings and investment, access to 
                capital, increasing rates of entrepreneurship;
                    (J) improving access to living wage employment; and
                    (K) improving access to employment based benefits.
    (b) Director of National Poverty Policy.--There shall be a Staff 
Director of National Poverty Policy, who shall be the head of the 
Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty.

SEC. 5. APPOINTMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR.

    (a) Appointment.--
            (1) In general.--The Staff Director shall be appointed by 
        the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
            (2) Qualifications.--The Secretary shall appoint the Staff 
        Director from among individuals who have demonstrated ability 
        and knowledge in social policy, improving outcome based 
        management, issues of equity and equal opportunity and access 
        to services and economic opportunity.
    (b) Responsibilities.--The Staff Director shall--
            (1) advise the Secretary and all relevant cabinet 
        secretaries, and agency officials regarding the establishment 
        of policies, goals, objectives, and priorities for reducing 
        poverty in America in half in ten years, ending child poverty, 
        ending extreme poverty and eliminating racial, ethnic, gender, 
        and sexual identity and orientation based disparities in the 
        rates of poverty;
            (2) advise the Secretary, relevant cabinet secretaries, 
        heads of independent Federal agencies and other entities within 
        the Executive Office of the President regarding mechanisms to 
        improve the effectiveness, coordination, impact, and outcomes 
        of social services, benefits, and other poverty reduction and 
        economic opportunity programs, in collaboration with experts in 
        the field, non-governmental organizations, and other 
        governments;
            (3) work with Federal agencies to oversee, coordinate, and 
        integrate the implementation of the National Plan or Strategy, 
        including consultation with independent non-governmental policy 
        experts and service provider groups engaged in serving low-
        income persons, children and households, State and local 
        government officials who administer or direct policy for anti-
        poverty programs, and with as many groups that directly 
        represent low-income people, such as public housing tenants' 
        associations, or other similar groups; and
            (4) resolve any disputes that arise between Federal 
        agencies relating to the National Plan to reduce poverty in 
        half in ten years or other matters within the responsibility of 
        the Office.

SEC. 6. CONSULTATION.

    (a) In General.--The Director may consult and obtain 
recommendations from, as needed, such Presidential and other advisory 
entities such as consultation with independent non-governmental policy 
experts and service provider groups engaged in serving low-income 
persons, children, and households; State and local government officials 
who administer or direct policy for anti-poverty programs, and groups 
made up of low-income people, such as public housing tenants' 
associations, or other similar groups as the Director determines will 
assist in carrying out the mission of the Office, including--
            (1) the Administration for Children and Families (ACF);
            (2) the Administration on Aging (AoA);
            (3) the Department of Agriculture (USDA);
            (4) the Bankruptcy Courts;
            (5) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection;
            (6) the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA);
            (7) the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA);
            (8) the Bureau of the Census;
            (9) the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion;
            (10) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (formerly 
        the Health Care Financing Administration);
            (11) the Commission on Civil Rights;
            (12) the Office of Community Planning and Development;
            (13) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau;
            (14) the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and 
        Delinquency Prevention;
            (15) the Corporation for National and Community Service;
            (16) the Council of Economic Advisers;
            (17) the Department of Agriculture (USDA);
            (18) the Department of Commerce (DOC);
            (19) the Department of Defense (DOD);
            (20) the Department of Education (ED);
            (21) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS);
            (22) the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD);
            (23) the Department of Justice (DOJ);
            (24) the Department of Labor (DOL);
            (25) the Department of the Treasury;
            (26) the Department of Transportation (DOT);
            (27) the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA);
            (28) the Disability Employment Policy Office;
            (29) the Domestic Policy Council;
            (30) the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA);
            (31) the Economic Development Administration;
            (32) the Economic Research Service;
            (33) the English Language Acquisition Office;
            (34) the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC);
            (35) the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity;
            (36) the Federal Bureau of Prisons;
            (37) the Federal Housing Finance Board;
            (38) the Federal Labor Relations Authority;
            (39) the Federal Trade Commission (FTC);
            (40) the Food and Nutrition Service;
            (41) the Indian Health Service;
            (42) the Interagency Council on Homelessness;
            (43) the Internal Revenue Service (IRS);
            (44) the Legal Services Corporation;
            (45) the National AIDS Policy Office;
            (46) the National Credit Union Administration;
            (47) the National Economic Council;
            (48) the National Institutes of Health (NIH);
            (49) the National Labor Relations Board;
            (50) the Occupational Safety & Health Administration 
        (OSHA);
            (51) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB);
            (52) the Office of Refugee Resettlement;
            (53) the Office of Policy Development and Research (Housing 
        and Urban Development Department);
            (54) the Small Business Administration (SBA);
            (55) the Social Security Administration (SSA);
            (56) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
        Administration;
            (57) the Veterans' Employment and Training Service; and
            (58) the Women's Bureau (Labor Department).
    (b) National Strategy.--In developing and updating the National 
Strategy the Executive Director shall consult with the Domestic Policy 
Council, the National Economic Council, and, as appropriate, hold 
regional public hearings around the country to collect information and 
feedback from the public on their efforts and experience for the 
development and updating of the National Strategy and make this 
information available to the public.

SEC. 7. REPORTS TO CONGRESS AND THE PUBLIC.

    (a) In General.--The Chair of the Federal Interagency Working Group 
on Reducing Poverty shall submit an annual report to the appropriate 
congressional committees describing the activities, ongoing projects, 
and plans of the Federal Government designed to meet the goals and 
objectives of the National Strategy on Poverty. The report shall 
include an accounting of the savings to the Government from any 
increased efficiencies in the delivery of services, any savings from 
reducing the numbers of Americans living in poverty and reductions in 
the demand for need based services and benefits for which persons 
living in and near poverty are eligible, as well as an accounting of 
any increase in revenue collections due to the numbers of persons who 
become gainfully employed and pay taxes into the Treasury instead of 
drawing benefits and services from it.
    (b) National Academy of Sciences Workshop.--Within 90 days after 
funds are made available to carry out this Act, the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services shall contract with the National Academy of Sciences 
(hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the ``NAS'') to initiate 
a workshop series to provide necessary background information to enable 
the Working Group on Reducing Poverty to develop and finalize its plan.
            (1) The NAS shall convene a steering committee to organize, 
        plan, and conduct a public workshop on what is known about the 
        economic and social costs of poverty, including, but not 
        limited to the following:
                    (A) Macroeconomic costs (effects on productivity 
                and economic output).
                    (B) Health costs (effects on health expenditures 
                and health status).
                    (C) Crime and other social costs.
                    (D) Direct federal budget effects (e.g., outlays 
                for income support and other poverty reduction 
                programs).
                    (E) The workshop shall also consider poverty 
                metrics (e.g., income poverty, food insecurity, and 
                other measures of deprivation), and their role in 
                assessing the effects of poverty and the performance of 
                anti-poverty programs.
        The NAS shall commission experts to prepare papers that 
        summarize and critique the relevant literature estimating 
        monetary and non-monetary economic and social impacts of 
        poverty. A workshop summary shall be produced that, along with 
        the papers, shall be available electronically on the NAS 
        website. This workshop shall be convened within 6 months of 
        receipt of a contract, the papers posted immediately, and the 
        summary released by the end of month.
            (2) The NAS steering committee shall organize, plan, and 
        conduct a second public workshop on what is known about the 
        economic and social costs and benefits of a variety of programs 
        and strategies to reduce and prevent poverty. It shall take 
        account of such issues as the following:
                    (A) Short-term versus long-term effects, including 
                budget implications.
                    (B) Effects for different population groups, such 
                as children, the elderly, immigrants, long-term single-
                parent families, displaced older workers, young people 
                with large loans, people in areas of concentrated 
                poverty and other social ills (e.g., Indian 
                reservations, some inner city areas, some rural areas).
                    (C) Effects by depth of poverty and near-poverty 
                (e.g., income to poverty ratios of less than 50 
                percent, less than 100 percent, less than 200 percent).
        This second workshop shall be convened within 9 months of 
        receipt of a contract, the papers posted immediately, and a 
        summary released by the end of month 12.
    (c) Report.--The relevant sections of the report shall be posted on 
each agency's website on the plans and impacts specific to their 
agency.
    (d) Public Report.--A version of each report submitted under this 
section shall be made available to the public.
    (e) Legislative Language.--The Working Group on Reducing Poverty 
shall submit, as necessary, legislative language, including specific 
legislative recommendations to the Congress of the United States 
towards achieving the national goals.
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