I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2470 
To establish the National Commission on Effective Marginal Tax Rates for 
Low-Income Families. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 20, 2013 
Mr. PETRI (for himself and Ms. TSONGAS) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to 
the Committees on Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, Financial Services, En-
ergy and Commerce, and Education and the Workforce, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To establish the National Commission on Effective Marginal 
Tax Rates for Low-Income Families. 
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 ‘‘Making Work and 
Marriage Pay Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The take-home pay of low-income families is 
subject to reductions from many sources, including 
the Federal income tax, Social Security payroll 
taxes, and State income taxes. In addition, eligibility 
for many Federal and State programs for assistance 
to working families, such as the earned income tax 
credit, the child tax credit, supplemental nutritional 
assistance program, housing assistance programs, 
Federal and State health care programs, child care 
assistance, and temporary assistance to needy fami-
lies, is based in part on income levels. The rates at 
which the benefits from such programs are phased 
out have the same disposable income reducing effect 
as escalating marginal tax rates. 
(2) The total effective marginal rate of tax for 
additional income earned by low-income people can 
exceed 100 percent and can be a disincentive to 
working more hours, getting a raise, seeking edu-
cation toward a more lucrative trade, getting mar-
ried, or engaging in other economic or social activi-
ties. 
(3) Congress has enacted each of these pro-
grams without full consideration of the impact it 
would have on other existing programs. As a result, 
the structure of the United States system for the 
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support of low-income families is uncoordinated and 
contains features which work against the goal of en-
couraging families to work their way toward self-suf-
ficiency. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) LOW-INCOME.—The term ‘‘low-income’’ 
means, with respect to any individual or family 
group, an individual or family group, as the case 
may be, whose income is not more than 225 percent 
of the poverty line (as determined under section 
673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act 
(42 U.S.C. 9902(2))). 
(2) FEDERAL BENEFITS.—The term ‘‘Federal 
benefits’’ means— 
(A) deductions, credits, and other tax ben-
efits available to low-income taxpayers under 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, including— 
(i) the earned income tax credit under 
section 32 of such Code, 
(ii) the child tax credit under section 
24 of such Code, and 
(iii) the dependent care tax credit 
under section 21 of such Code, and 
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(B) Federal assistance programs for low- 
income individuals and families, including— 
(i) the supplemental nutritional assist-
ance program established under the Food 
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 
et seq.), 
(ii) any assistance, loan, loan guar-
antee, housing, housing assistance, or 
other housing related program adminis-
tered, in whole or in part, by the Secretary 
of Housing and Urban Development, the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or any other 
Federal agency housing assistance, includ-
ing the project-based and tenant-based 
rental assistance programs under section 8 
of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 
(iii) any Federal programs providing 
child care assistance, and 
(iv) 
Federal 
programs 
providing 
health care assistance, including assistance 
under the Medicaid program established 
under title XIX of the Social Security Act, 
the State Children’s Health Insurance Pro-
gram under title XXI of such Act, and the 
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