336 
(B) Section 35(g)(6) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘section 21(e)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘section 36C(e)’’. 
(C) Section 36C(a)(1) of such Code, as re-
designated by this section, is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘this chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘this subtitle’’. 
(D) Section 129(a)(2)(C) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘section 21(e)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘section 36C(e)’’. 
(E) Section 129(b)(2) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘section 21(d)(2)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘section 36C(d)(2)’’. 
(F) Section 129(e)(1) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘section 21(b)(2)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘section 36C(b)(2)’’. 
(G) Section 213(e) of such Code is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘section 21’’ and inserting ‘‘sec-
tion 36C’’. 
(H) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of such Code is 
amended by inserting ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 
(I) Section 6213(g)(2)(H) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘section 21’’ and inserting 
‘‘section 36C’’. 
(J) Section 6213(g)(2)(L) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘section 21, 24, 32, or 
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6428’’ and inserting ‘‘section 24, 32, 36C, or 
6428’’. 
(K) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended by in-
serting ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 
(L) The table of sections for subpart A of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
striking the item relating to section 21. 
(M) The table of sections for subpart C of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such 
Code is amended by inserting after the item re-
lating to section 36B the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 36C. Expenses for household and dependent care services necessary for 
gainful employment.’’. 
(b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT OF INCOME THRESH-
OLDS FOR CREDIT PHASEDOWN.—Section 36C(e) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as redesignated by this 
section, is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(11) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—In the case of any 
taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 
2013, the $2,000 amount and the $15,000 
amount in subsection (a)(2) shall each be in-
creased by an amount equal to— 
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‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 
‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de-
termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal-
endar year in which the taxable year be-
gins, determined by substituting ‘calendar 
year 2012’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in sub-
paragraph (B) thereof. 
‘‘(B) ROUNDING.—Any increase deter-
mined under subparagraph (A) shall be rounded 
to the nearest multiple of— 
‘‘(i) in the case of the $2,000 amount, 
$50, and 
‘‘(ii) in the case of the $15,000 
amount, $100.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2013. 
DIVISION F—MISCELLANEOUS 
TITLE XXI—POVERTY IMPACT 
TRIGGER 
SEC. 2101. CERTAIN POVERTY IMPACT LEGISLATION SUB-
JECT TO POINT OF ORDER. 
Rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representa-
tives is amended by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
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‘‘Certain legislation reported by committees 
‘‘12. It shall not be in order to consider a bill or joint 
resolution of a public nature authorizing an appropriation 
of $10,000,000 or more, unless— 
‘‘(a) the committee report accompanying the bill 
or joint resolution includes a CBO Poverty Index Di-
vision impact statement; or 
‘‘(b) the chair of the committee reporting the 
bill or joint resolution submits such statement to be 
published in the Congressional Record before consid-
eration of the bill or joint resolution.’’. 
SEC. 2102. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE POVERTY IM-
PACT DIVISION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202 of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 602) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(h) CBO POVERTY IMPACT DIVISION.— 
‘‘(1) CREATION.—There is established within 
the Office the CBO Poverty Impact Division (herein-
after in this subsection referred to as the ‘Division’). 
‘‘(2) DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS.— 
‘‘(A) PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF 
IMPACT STATEMENT.—When a chair of a com-
mittee of the House of Representatives submits 
a written request to the Division to prepare and 
submit to the committee a CBO Poverty Index 
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Division impact statement, the Division shall 
prepare and submit such statement to the com-
mittee not later than 30 days after such re-
quest. 
‘‘(B) CONTENT OF IMPACT STATEMENT.— 
A CBO Poverty Index Division impact state-
ment shall include the following: 
‘‘(i) A projected ratio equal to the 
amount of appropriations authorized in the 
bill or joint resolution that will benefit in-
dividuals and families below the poverty 
threshold over the total amount of appro-
priations authorized by the bill or joint res-
olution. 
‘‘(ii) A projection of the number of in-
dividual and family incomes— 
‘‘(I) that may decrease below the 
poverty threshold because of the bill 
or joint resolution; and 
‘‘(II) that may increase above the 
poverty threshold because of the bill 
or joint resolution. 
‘‘(iii) A projection as to how the legis-
lation improves access to basic human 
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services, including health care, housing, 
and education. 
‘‘(C) POVERTY THRESHOLD DEFINED.—In 
this subsection, the term ‘poverty threshold’ 
means an income level below 200 percent of the 
poverty line (as defined in section 673(2) of the 
Community Services Block Grant Act).’’. 
SEC. 2103. EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS. 
Section 2101 of this title is enacted by the House 
of Representatives— 
(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 
the House of Representatives and as such it shall be 
considered as part of the rules of the House of Rep-
resentatives and such rules shall supersede other 
rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent 
therewith; and 
(2) with the full recognition of the constitu-
tional right of the House of Representatives to 
change such rules at any time, in the same manner, 
and to the same extent as in the case of any other 
rule of the House of Representatives. 
SEC. 2104. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments made by this title shall apply to any 
bill or joint resolution reported by a committee of the 
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House of Representatives after the 90-day period begin-
ning on the date of enactment of this Act. 
TITLE XXII—HALF IN TEN ACT 
TO 
CREATE 
A 
NATIONAL 
STRATEGY TO REDUCE POV-
ERTY 
SEC. 2201. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The persistence of poverty, and especially 
intergenerational poverty, in America can be seen as 
a deep, structural problem that implicates our value 
system and our educational and economic institu-
tions. 
(2) Poverty may be defined as the lack of basic 
necessities of life such as food, shelter, clothing, 
health care, education, economic security, and eco-
nomic opportunity. 
(3) Policy initiatives and many safety net pro-
grams 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. 
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(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 experi-
ence higher crime rates, decreased productivity, and 
higher health costs over their lives (Center for Amer-
ican Progress, 2007). 
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(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 chil-
dren (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) Individuals and families in poverty are 
more socially vulnerable to natural disasters, ex-
treme weather and impacts of climate change and 
have greater difficulty preparing for, responding to 
and recovering from such events (Oxfam America, 
2009). 
(17) 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 edu-
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cational attainment, and increased reliance on public 
services and increased rates of incarceration (First 
Focus, 2008). 
(18) It is estimated that the additional 3 mil-
lion children who were forced into poverty due to the 
recession of 2008, resulted in $35 billion in eco-
nomic losses annually, and will cause at least $1.7 
trillion in economic losses to the United States dur-
ing their lifetimes (First Focus, 2008). 
(19) Reducing poverty, especially child poverty, 
not only reduces costs for Federal, State, and local 
social services and benefits programs, but also in-
creases tax revenue at all levels of government (Chil-
dren’s Defense Fund, 2009). 
(20) The House of Representatives, on January 
22, 2008, has resolved that it is the sense of Con-
gress that the United States should set a national 
goal of cutting poverty in half over the next 10 
years. 
SEC. 2202. DEFINITIONS. 
In this title: 
(1) FEDERAL
AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 
agency’’ means any executive department, Govern-
ment corporation, Government-controlled corpora-
tion, or other establishment in the executive branch 
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346 
of the Government (including the Executive Office of 
the President), or any independent regulatory agen-
cy. 
(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 es-
tablishes 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 pov-
erty’’ 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 an-
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nual 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 meas-
ures and indicators, other than the traditional in-
come 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 sup-
ports, 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 in-
come saved), the number of disconnected youth, teen 
birth rates, participation rates in Federal anti-pov-
erty 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 re-
gions. 
(10) ECONOMIC INSECURITY.—The term ‘‘eco-
nomic insecurity’’ means the inability of individuals 
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and households to cope with routine adverse or cost-
ly 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 ‘‘eco-
nomic stability’’ means individuals and households 
have access to the means and support systems nec-
essary to effectively cope with adverse or costly life 
events and have the ability to effectively recover 
from the consequences of those events while main-
taining their standard of living or maintaining a de-
cent standard of living. 
(12) DIGITAL DIVIDE.—The term ‘‘digital di-
vide’’ means the gap between individuals, house-
holds, 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 
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intervention, benefit, or service or series of interven-
tions, 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 em-
ployment, 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, re-
gardless of whether such practices were motivated by 
discriminatory intent. 
SEC. 2203. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL INTER-
AGENCY WORKING GROUP ON REDUCING 
POVERTY. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF FEDERAL INTERAGENCY 
WORKING GROUP ON REDUCING POVERTY.—There is es-
tablished within the Department of Health and Human 
Services, a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reduc-
ing 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— 
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(1) develop, within 180 days of enactment, a 
National Strategy to reduce the number of persons 
living in poverty in America in half within 10 years 
of the release of the 2012 Census report on Income, 
Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the 
United States: 2011, that includes goals and objec-
tives relating to— 
(A) reducing in half the number of Ameri-
cans living in poverty as reported by the 2012 
Census report on Income, Poverty and Health 
Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011; 
(B) eliminating child poverty in America; 
(C) eliminating extreme poverty in Amer-
ica; 
(D) improving the effectiveness and out-
comes of poverty-related programs by improving 
our understanding of the root causes of poverty, 
the social, economic, and the cultural contribu-
tors 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 dif-
ferences in costs of living, the impact of rising 
income inequality, the impact of the persistent 
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‘‘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 eco-
nomic stability and economic outcomes, such as 
educational attainment, rates of incarceration, 
lifetime earnings, access to health care, health 
care outcomes, access to housing, and including 
other measures as necessary to improve our un-
derstanding of why poverty persists in America; 
(F) eliminating the disparate rates of pov-
erty based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, or 
sexual 
orientation 
and 
identity, 
especially 
among children in those households so im-
pacted; 
(G) measuring effectiveness of poverty re-
lated programs on the basis of long-term out-
comes, including the long-term savings and 
value of preventive practice and policy, and em-
ploying fact-based measures of programs to 
make improvements; 
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(H) improving the accessibility of benefit 
and social services programs, reducing the com-
plexity and difficulty of enrollment, and improv-
ing the rates of enrollment in need based pro-
grams for all eligible recipients to maximize the 
impact of benefits and social services programs 
on reducing the impacts of poverty and improv-
ing economic outcomes; 
(I) making more uniform eligibility re-
quirements to improve the coordination of serv-
ice delivery, reduce gaps in eligibility, and im-
prove outcomes of programs addressing poverty 
in the Federal Government; 
(J) reducing the negative impacts of asset 
limits for eligibility which impact Federal, State 
and local poverty programs on the effectiveness 
of programs where limited eligibility creates 
gaps in necessary service and benefit delivery, 
and restricts access to benefits as individuals 
and families attempt to transition off of assist-
ance programs and which can prevent needy 
beneficiaries from improving long-term out-
comes and achieving long-term economic inde-
pendence from need-based programs; 
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(K) identifying Federal programs, includ-
ing those related to disaster relief, hazard miti-
gation, extreme weather and climate change, 
and necessary reforms to better target re-
sources towards disproportionately impacted so-
cially vulnerable, low-income and disadvantaged 
communities may provide greater socio-eco-
nomic benefits; 
(L) improving the ability of community- 
based organizations to participate in the devel-
opment, oversight and implementation of Fed-
eral poverty-related programs; 
(M) improving access to good jobs with 
adequate wages and benefits by individuals liv-
ing in poverty, low-income households, and the 
unemployed; 
(N) expanding and stabilizing poor and 
low-income persons connection to work and ac-
cess to critical job training and/or skills up-
grade training that will lead to re-entry in the 
workforce; 
(O) developing a comprehensive strategy to 
connect low-income young people and to re-con-
nect currently disconnected youth to education, 
work, and their community; and 
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(P) shifting the focus of poverty and 
means-tested programs across the Federal Gov-
ernment beyond the relief of deprivation and in-
stead setting goals, measures, and outcomes 
more focused on measuring the success of pro-
grams in supporting and improving how capable 
individuals and families can access educational 
and economic opportunities to successfully tran-
sition away from accessing public assistance 
and benefits and achieving long-term economic 
stability which will reduce long-term costs in 
domestic social needs programs, reduce long- 
term health care costs due to the improved 
health of formerly poverty stricken households, 
increase the number of taxpaying individuals 
which will increase revenue, and lower the en-
rollment 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 poli-
cies and activities of the Federal Government, in co-
ordination and consultation with the Domestic Pol-
icy Council and the National Economic Council, 
across all agencies relating to reducing the number 
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of individuals, families, and children living below the 
Federal poverty line, in extreme poverty or near pov-
erty and increasing the number of households able 
to achieve long-term economic stability with assets 
sufficient to maintain a decent living standard with-
out relying on public supports— 
(A) 
economic, 
commercial, 
and 
pro-
grammatic policies that can effect or relieve the 
effects of poverty through job creation, and eco-
nomic development targeted to low-income, mi-
nority, rural, urban and other populations who 
suffer disparate rates of poverty, among Fed-
eral agencies; and 
(B) services and benefits including emer-
gency programs, discretionary economic pro-
grams, and other policies and activities nec-
essary 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 
comply with appropriate guidelines, policies, and di-
rectives 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 re-
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356 
duction or improving economic stability and inde-
pendence; 
(4) ensure that Federal agencies, State govern-
ments and relevant congressional committees 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 commu-
nities, maximize enrollment for all eligible Ameri-
cans, share relevant data, and issue relevant guid-
ance in consultation with non-government organiza-
tions 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 pov-
erty; 
(5) enact best practices for improved data col-
lection, relevant to— 
(A) reducing poverty; 
(B) reducing the racial, ethnic, age, gen-
der, and sexual orientation or sexual identity 
based disparities in the rates of poverty; 
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(C) adequately measuring the effectiveness, 
efficiency and impact of programs on the out-
comes for individuals, families and communities 
who receive benefits and services; 
(D) streamlining enrollment and eligibility 
for programs; 
(E) improving long-term outcomes for indi-
viduals who are enrolled in service and benefit 
programs; 
(F) reducing reliance on public programs; 
(G) improving connections to work; 
(H) improving economic stability; 
(I) improving savings and investment, ac-
cess to capital, increasing rates of entrepreneur-
ship; 
(J) improving our understanding of the 
impact of extreme weather and natural disas-
ters on economically vulnerable communities 
and improving those communities’ resilience to 
and recovery from extreme weather and natural 
disasters; 
(K) improving access to living wage em-
ployment; and 
(L) improving access to employment-based 
benefits; and 
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358 
(6) study the feasibility of and test different 
interagency, State and local, public/private models of 
cooperative service and benefit delivery by creating 
necessary exemptions, waivers and funding sources 
to allow improved cooperation and innovation in the 
development of programs, practices, policies and pro-
cedures that advance the goal of reducing poverty 
and increasing economic opportunity. 
(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. 2204. APPOINTMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE 
DIRECTOR. 
(a) APPOINTMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Staff Director shall be 
appointed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development. 
(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Secretary shall ap-
point 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 serv-
ices and economic opportunity. 
(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Staff Director shall— 
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