including waiver authorities, to be potentially lever-
aged to most effectively implement the pilot project. 
SEC. 5. HOPE TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION CONTRACTS. 
(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Ag-
riculture and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel-
opment, shall hold a merit-based competition to award 
HOPE Technology Innovation Contracts to qualified busi-
ness or nonprofit organizations to create technology appli-
cations, widgets, and templates that eligible entities can 
use to create HOPE accounts described in section 4(b). 
(b) NUMBER OF CONTRACTS.—The Secretary shall 
award not more than 10 and not fewer than 2 contracts 
under this section for each of fiscal years 2025 through 
2030. 
(c) SIZE OF CONTRACTS.—Contracts under this sec-
tion shall range in size from $200,000 to $4,500,000. 
(d) AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.—All technologies 
developed with funds from a contract under this section 
shall be open-sourced and available to the public at no 
cost. 
(e) HOUSEHOLD DATA.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), a qualified business or nonprofit organi-
zation that enters into a contract under this section 
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shall not have access to any client or household data 
through such contract. 
(2) EXCEPTION.—A qualified business or non-
profit organization that enters into a contract under 
this section and that is also a contractor or sub-
grantee for an eligible entity for purposes of assist-
ing such entity in carrying out a HOPE Accounts 
Pilot Project described in section 4(b) may have lim-
ited, functional access to client or household data 
with respect to such assistance. 
(3) PROHIBITION
ON
SHARING
OR
SELLING 
DATA.—In no case shall a qualified business or non-
profit organization that enters into a contract under 
this section share or sell client or household data ob-
tained through such contract. 
(f) PREFERENCES.—In awarding contracts under 
this section, the Secretary of Health and Human Service 
shall give preference to contracts— 
(1) for client facing technology, with the Sec-
retary giving higher preference for mobile device ap-
plications and uses and giving secondary preference 
for tablet, computer, and texting uses; 
(2) that incorporate fail-safe systems to main-
tain the privacy and security of data; 
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(3) that are easily adaptable at the lowest pos-
sible financial costs with the least possible staff time 
by eligible entities carrying out a pilot project sup-
ported by section 4 and other State, county, city, 
municipal, and Tribal governments in a manner that 
can easily be utilized by low-income individuals in 
the United States; and 
(4) that build in the ability to be easily updated 
as technologies evolve. 
SEC. 6. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT AND NONDISPLACE-
MENT OF WORKERS. 
None of the pilot projects carried out under section 
4, or contracts carried out under section 5, shall do any 
of the following: 
(1) Decrease the overall monetary value of Fed-
eral, State, local, or Tribal government funding as-
sistance given to any individual or family, although 
all entities involved in the pilot project or contract 
may independently, or jointly, increase funding 
under such project or contract. 
(2) Decrease the overall Federal, State, local, or 
Tribal government funding for antipoverty programs 
spent by communities or agencies participating in 
the pilot project or contract, although all entities in-
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volved in the pilot project or contract may independ-
ently, or jointly, increase funding. 
(3) Lengthen the amount of time or increase 
the requirements necessary to receive any govern-
ment benefits, or in any way make it more difficult 
to obtain any form of government assistance. 
(4) Limit the legal rights of anyone in the tar-
get populations to receive government or nonprofit 
assistance. 
(5) Decrease overall public sector employment 
in any community of the eligible entity carrying out 
the project or qualified business or nonprofit organi-
zation carrying out the contract, but public employ-
ees could be transferred at similar or higher salaries 
and pay grades from positions that oversee paper-
work to positions that provide direct services to the 
public, assuming such transfers do not violate collec-
tive barraging agreements or their other rights as 
public employees. 
(6) Decrease or increase work requirements for 
existing government programs. 
(7) Reduce program integrity measures or in-
crease the possibility of fraud in any government 
program. 
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(8) Track or monitor the physical location or 
immigration status of immigrants, be used for any 
immigration enforcement activity against any indi-
viduals, or be used to provide any data under any 
circumstance or to any extent to agencies involved in 
immigration enforcement activities or policy. 
(9) Enable the eligible entity carrying out the 
project or qualified business or nonprofit organiza-
tion carrying out the contract or a contractor, sub-
contractor, or partner of the eligible entity or quali-
fied business or nonprofit organization to share or 
sell client or household data obtained through the 
project or contract. 
(10) Eliminate the existing ability of applicants 
to apply for, recertify, or manage government bene-
fits by physically visiting a government office. 
SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 
(a) REPORT.—Not later than September 30 of each 
of fiscal years 2025 through 2031, the Secretaries shall 
submit to Congress a report on the results of pilot projects 
carried out under section 4 or contracts carried out under 
section 5. 
(b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each report under sub-
section (a) shall include detailed data on— 
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(1) the extent to which such pilot projects and 
contracts make it easier, quicker, and less costly for 
low-income individuals in the United States to access 
a variety of benefits; 
(2) the extent to which the pilot projects and 
contracts will save administrative funds over the 
long-run; 
(3) the extent to which the accuracy and integ-
rity of the benefits programs included are main-
tained or improved; and 
(4) the extent to which low-income households 
are able to more easily obtain free or low-cost bank-
ing services. 
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; TECHNICAL 
ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act for 
each of fiscal years 2025 through 2030— 
(1) $10,000,000 to the Secretary of Housing 
and Urban Development, of which— 
(A) $500,000 shall be used internally by 
the Department of Housing and Urban Devel-
opment for staff and other expenses to plan, 
award, and oversee pilot projects under section 
4; and 
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(B) $9,500,000 shall be available for 
grants under section 4; 
(2) $10,000,000 to the Secretary of Agri-
culture, of which— 
(A) $500,000 shall be used internally by 
Department of Agriculture for staff and other 
expenses to plan, award, and oversee pilot 
projects under section 4; and 
(B) $9,500,000 shall be available for 
grants under section 4; and 
(3) $15,000,000 to the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, of which— 
(A) $500,000 shall be used internally by 
the Department of Health and Human Services 
for staff and other expenses to plan, award, and 
oversee pilot projects under section 4 and the 
contracts under section 5; 
(B) $9,500,000 shall be available for 
grants under section 4; and 
(C) $5,000,000 shall be available for con-
tracts under section 5. 
(b) TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE
AUTHORIZED.—The 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary 
of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban De-
velopment, the Secretary of Veterans of Affairs, the Sec-
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retary of the Interior, the Secretary of Labor, the Com-
missioner of the Internal Revenue Service, the Chief Exec-
utive Officer of the Corporation for National and Commu-
nity Service, the Administrator of the Small Business Ad-
ministration, the Director of the Office of Management 
and Budget, the Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy, the Chairman of the Federal Deposit 
Insurance Corporation, and the Domestic Policy Council 
may, to advance the objectives of the pilot projects carried 
out under section 4 and the contracts carried out under 
section 5— 
(1) provide technical assistance; 
(2) solicit voluntary, nonmonetary assistance 
from universities, credit unions, and private sector 
technology companies, banks, and financial institu-
tions; and 
(3) inform eligible entities of the applicable 
Federal, State, local, or Tribal statutory and regu-
latory authorities, including waiver authorities. 
(c) PERSISTENT POVERTY COUNTIES.— 
(1) 
ALLOCATION
REQUIREMENT.—Of 
the 
amount appropriated to carry out this Act, not less 
than 10 percent shall be allocated to provide assist-
ance in persistent poverty counties. 
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(2) DEFINITION
OF
PERSISTENT
POVERTY 
COUNTY.—For purposes of this subsection, the term 
‘‘persistent poverty county’’ means any county that 
has had 20 percent or more of its population living 
in poverty during the 30-year period ending on the 
date of enactment of this Act, as measured by the 
2000, 2010, and 2020 decennial censuses. 
Æ 
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