IIA

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1645

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 22, 1993

Received

NOVEMBER 23, 1993

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

AN ACT

To amend title 13, United States Code, to require that

the Secretary of Commerce produce and publish, at least

every 2 years, current data relating to the incidence

of poverty in the United States.

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 Data Improve5 ment Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) more than $20,000,000,000 is provided to

9 State and local governments each year, under var-
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1 ious Federal programs, based on data relating to in2 come and poverty status;

3 (2) the infrequency with which such data are

4 collected diminishes their reliability and usefulness

5 for public policy purposes;

6 (3) the relative lack of intercensal data can pre7 vent Federal funds from reaching those populations

8 that are in greatest need, as reflected in the dra9 matic and often unforeseen shifts in the way Federal

10 funds are reallocated following each decennial cen11 sus;

12 (4) the more frequent collection of data relating

13 to income and poverty status would allow policy14 makers to target scarce program funds more effec15 tively and in a more timely fashion; and

16 (5) the cost of producing the data needed to

17 achieve the ends described in paragraph (4) would

18 be small compared to the amounts that are distrib19 uted based on such data.

20 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 5 of

22 title 13, United States Code, is amended by inserting after

23 section 181 the following:
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1 ‘‘§ 181a. Data relating to poverty

2 ‘‘(a) The Secretary, to the extent feasible, shall

3 produce and publish for each State, county, and local unit

4 of general purpose government for which data are com5 piled in the most recent census of population taken under

6 section 141(a), and for each school district, data relating

7 to the incidence of poverty. Such data may be produced

8 by means of sampling, estimation, or any other method

9 that the Secretary determines will produce current, com10 prehensive, and reliable data.

11 ‘‘(b) Data under this section—

12 ‘‘(1) shall include—

13 ‘‘(A) for each school district, the number

14 of children age 5 to 17, inclusive, in families

15 below the poverty level; and

16 ‘‘(B) for each State and county referred to

17 in subsection (a), the number of individuals age

18 65 or over below the poverty level; and

19 ‘‘(2) shall be published in 1996 and at least

20 every second year thereafter.

21 ‘‘(c)(1) If reliable data could not otherwise be pro22 duced, the Secretary may, for purposes of subsection

23 (b)(1)(A), aggregate school districts, but only to the extent

24 necessary to achieve reliability.

25 ‘‘(2) Any data produced under this subsection shall

26 be appropriately identified and shall be accompanied by
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1 a detailed explanation as to how and why aggregation was

2 used (including the measures taken to minimize any such

3 aggregation).

4 ‘‘(d) If the Secretary is unable to produce and publish

5 the data required under this section for any State, county,

6 local unit of general purpose government, or school district

7 in any year specified in subsection (b)(2), a report shall

8 be submitted by the Secretary to the President of the Sen9 ate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, not

10 later than 90 days before the commencement of the follow11 ing year, enumerating each government or school district

12 excluded and giving the reasons for the exclusion.

13 ‘‘(e) In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall

14 use the same criteria relating to poverty as were used in

15 compiling the then most recent census of population taken

16 under section 141(a) (subject to such periodic adjustments

17 as may be necessary to compensate for inflation and other

18 similar factors).’’.

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec20 tions for chapter 5 of title 13, United States Code, is

21 amended by inserting after the item relating to section

22 181 the following:

‘‘181a. Data relating to poverty.’’.
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Passed the House of Representatives November 21,

1993.

Attest: DONNALD K. ANDERSON,

Clerk.