I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6874 
To require the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce 
to provide estimates relating to the distribution of aggregate economic 
growth across specific percentile groups of income. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. BEYER, Mr. 
DELANEY, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
FOSTER, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. 
JACKSON LEE, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. CRIST, 
Mr. VEASEY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and Mr. 
LEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Oversight and Government Reform 
A BILL 
To require the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Depart-
ment of Commerce to provide estimates relating to the 
distribution of aggregate economic growth across specific 
percentile groups of income. 
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 ‘‘Measuring Real In-
come Growth Act of 2018’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Economic inequality in the United States 
has increased dramatically during the 4 decades pre-
ceding the date of enactment of this Act, with fewer 
households taking home a larger share of the na-
tional income. 
(2) While growth was once distributed relatively 
evenly across all individuals in the United States, re-
search shows that economic gains are increasingly 
enjoyed by the most affluent. By contrast, the ma-
jority of individuals in the United States have seen 
income and wage growth significantly below what is 
suggested by national measures of output and in-
come. 
(3) The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the 
Department of Commerce (referred to in this section 
as ‘‘BEA’’) reports annual and quarterly estimates 
of gross domestic product (referred to in this section 
as ‘‘GDP’’) in the United States. These estimates 
are important measures of the overall size and 
health of the economy of the United States but do 
not describe how economic gains are distributed 
across the population of the United States. 
(4) In a country of 325,000,000 individuals, 
top-line GDP numbers do not capture the full range 
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of household economic experiences and may be mis-
leading. The real GDP grew more than 3 percent 
annually between 2003 and 2005, but the average 
income for half of all individuals in the United 
States fell during that period. 
(5) Disaggregating economic growth by income 
groups will provide a more complete picture of how 
families in the United States are faring across all 
rungs of the economic ladder and whether economic 
growth is benefiting all individuals in the United 
States. 
(6) Recent academic estimates of distributional 
growth show how much of the economic gains during 
the 40 years preceding the date of enactment of this 
Act have accrued to the top of the income distribu-
tion. Between 1980 and 2014, the average income of 
the top 1 percent of the income distribution grew 5 
times as much as the average income of the bottom 
90 percent of the income distribution and more than 
9 times as much as the average income of the bot-
tom half. 
(7) Official and timely estimates of distribu-
tional growth from BEA, reported alongside top-line 
GDP numbers, would enable Congress to better 
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evaluate economic policies that impact every indi-
vidual in the United States. 
(8) Efforts to address slow wage growth, stag-
nant incomes, and growing economic inequality re-
quire broadening the focus beyond GDP and obtain-
ing metrics that better correspond to the experiences 
of all families in the United States. 
SEC. 3. ESTIMATES OF AGGREGATE ECONOMIC GROWTH 
ACROSS INCOME GROUPS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) BUREAU.—The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the 
Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of 
Commerce. 
(2) GROSS
DOMESTIC
PRODUCT
ANALYSIS.— 
The term ‘‘gross domestic product analysis’’— 
(A) means a quarterly or annual analysis 
conducted by the Bureau with respect to the 
gross domestic product of the United States; 
and 
(B) includes a revision prepared by the 
Bureau of an analysis described in subpara-
graph (A). 
(3) RECENT ESTIMATE.—The term ‘‘recent es-
timate’’ means the most recent estimate described in 
subsection (b) that is available on the date on which 
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the gross domestic product analysis with which the 
estimate is to be included is conducted. 
(b) INCLUSION IN REPORTS.—Beginning in 2020, in 
each gross domestic product analysis conducted by the Bu-
reau, the Bureau shall include a recent estimate of, with 
respect to specific percentile groups of income, the total 
amount that was added to the economy of the United 
States during the period to which the recent estimate per-
tains, including in— 
(1) each of the 10 deciles of income; and 
(2) the highest 1 percent of income. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Com-
merce such sums as are necessary to carry out this sec-
tion. 
Æ 
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