I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2166
To expand the purposes of the program of block grants to States for tem-
porary assistance for needy families to include poverty reduction, and
to make grants available under the program for that purpose.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 13, 2001
Mr. STARK (for himself, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mrs. MINK of
Hawaii, Ms. NORTON, Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr.
COYNE, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. HALL of Ohio, Mr. MEEKS of
New York, Mr. OWENS, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. MCCAR-
THY of Missouri, and Mr. LAFALCE) 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 avail-
able under the program for that purpose.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Poverty Reduc-
tion Act’’.
be made to a qualified child poverty reduc-
tion State for a fiscal year shall be an
amount equal to—
‘‘(I) the number of children who
had not attained 18 years of age by
the end of the then most recently
completed calendar year and who re-
sided in the State as of the end of
such calendar year, divided by the
number of such children who resided
in the United States as of the end of
such calendar year; multiplied by
‘‘(II) the amount appropriated
pursuant to subparagraph (F) for the
fiscal year.
‘‘(ii) LIMITATIONS.—
‘‘(I) 
MINIMUM
GRANT.—The
amount of the grant to be made to a
qualified child poverty reduction State
for a fiscal year shall be not less than
$1,000,000.
‘‘(II) 
MAXIMUM
GRANT.—The
amount of the grant to be made to a
qualified child poverty reduction State
for a fiscal year shall not exceed an
amount equal to 5 percent of the
State family assistance grant for the
fiscal year.
‘‘(iii) PRO
RATA
INCREASE.—If the
amount available for grants under this
paragraph for a fiscal year is greater than
the total amount of payments otherwise re-
quired to be made under this paragraph
for the fiscal year, then the amount other-
wise payable to any State for the fiscal
year under this paragraph shall, subject to
clause (ii)(II), be increased by such equal
percentage as may be necessary to ensure
that the total of the amounts payable for
the fiscal year under this paragraph equals
the amount available for the grants.
‘‘(iv) PRO RATA REDUCTION.—If the
amount available for grants under this
paragraph for a fiscal year is less than the
total amount of payments otherwise re-
quired to be made under this paragraph
for the fiscal year, then the amount other-
wise payable to any State for the fiscal
year under this paragraph shall, subject to
clause (ii)(I), be reduced by such equal
percentage as may be necessary to ensure
that the total of the amounts payable for
the fiscal year under this paragraph equals
the amount available for the grants.
‘‘(C) USE OF GRANT.—A State to which a
grant is made under this paragraph shall use
the grant for any purpose for which a grant
made under this part may be used.
‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph:
‘‘(i) QUALIFIED CHILD POVERTY RE-
DUCTION
STATE.—The term ‘qualified
child poverty reduction State’ means, with
respect to a fiscal year, a State if—
‘‘(I) 
the 
child 
poverty 
rate
achieved by the State for the then
most recently completed calendar year
for which such information is avail-
able is less than the lowest child pov-
erty rate achieved by the State during
the applicable period; and
‘‘(II) the average depth of child
poverty in the State for the then most
recently completed calendar year for
which such information is available is
not greater than the average depth of
child poverty in the State for the cal-
endar year that precedes such then
most 
recently 
completed 
calendar
year.
‘‘(ii) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—In clause
(i), the term ‘applicable period’ means,
with respect to a State and the calendar
year referred to in clause (i)(I), the period
that—
‘‘(I) begins with the calendar
year that, as of October 1, 2002, pre-
cedes the then most recently com-
pleted calendar year for which such
information is available; and
‘‘(II) ends with the calendar year
that precedes the calendar year re-
ferred to clause (i)(I).
‘‘(iii) CHILD
POVERTY
RATE.—The
term ‘child poverty rate’ means, with re-
spect to a State and a calendar year, the
percentage of children residing in the State
during the calendar year whose family in-
come for the calendar year is less than the
poverty line then applicable to the family.
‘‘(iv) AVERAGE DEPTH OF CHILD POV-
ERTY.—The term ‘average depth of child
poverty’ means with respect to a State and
a calendar year, the average dollar amount
by which family income is exceeded by the
poverty line, among children in the State
whose family income for the calendar year
is less than the applicable poverty line.
‘‘(v) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘pov-
erty line’ has the meaning given the term
in section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1981, including any
revision required by such section applicable
to a family of the size involved.
‘‘(E) FAMILY INCOME DETERMINATIONS.—
For purposes of this paragraph, family income
includes cash income, child support payments,
government cash payments, and benefits under
the Food Stamp Act of 1977 that are received
by any family member, and family income shall
be determined after payment of all taxes and
receipt of any tax refund or rebate by any fam-
ily member.
‘‘(F) APPROPRIATIONS.—