HOPE Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.2336 | Sponsor: Rep. Morelle, Joseph D. (D-NY)
Policy area: Social Welfare

Summary:
Health, Opportunity, and Personal Empowerment Act of 2021 or the HOPE Act of 2021
This bill establishes two Health, Opportunity, and Personal Empowerment (HOPE) pilot projects to improve economic security for individuals who meet income or other requirements.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development must collaborate on the projects.
The first project provides awards to certain government entities to assist eligible individuals in establishing HOPE accounts through banks, credit unions, or governmental agencies. HOPE accounts must (1) provide access to specified financial services and information on public benefits, health insurance, and other topics; and (2) facilitate activities such as applying for government benefits and filing taxes. HHS must hold a competition to award contracts to private businesses and nonprofits to develop technology applications and other tools for HOPE accounts.
The second pilot project provides grants that allow government and nonprofit organizations to enter voluntary agreements with eligible individuals to carry out long-term plans related to improving economic security and upward mobility.

To authorize the establishment of HOPE Account Pilot Projects, HOPE 
Action Plans Pilot Projects, and competitive grants for pilot projects.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Health, Opportunity, and Personal 
Empowerment Act of 2021'' or ``HOPE Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 2018, according to the Department of Agriculture, 
        37,200,000 individuals in the United States (including 
        11,100,000 children) lived in food insecure households. That 
        equals 1 in 9 individuals and 1 in 7 children.
            (2) In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity 
        in the United States soared, with the Census Household Pulse 
        Survey finding that at least 22 percent of Americans, and 28 
        percent of children in the United States, suffered from food 
        insecurity in the height of the pandemic.
            (3) In 2018, according to the Bureau of the Census, 
        34,000,000 individuals (including 10,500,000 children) lived 
        below the Federal poverty line. The majority of these 
        individuals living in poverty were working people, children, 
        older individuals, and individuals with disabilities.
            (4) Many low-income individuals work multiple jobs and, 
        contrary to common misconceptions, if unemployed, they spend a 
        great deal of time looking for work. They often travel by 
        public transportation, laboriously making multiple connections 
        to shuttle between home, work, social service agencies, houses 
        of worship, and grocery stores. For those living in rural and 
        suburban areas far from work and without adequate public 
        transportation they rely upon vehicles to get to work, but 
        these are often less reliable secondhand vehicles, that often 
        break down. From traveling greater distances between available 
        jobs and livable areas with affordable housing options, seeking 
        out scarce childcare options that fit a tight budget and a 
        constrained travel schedule, and caring for elderly parents or 
        grandparents because a senior living facility is not 
        financially realistic, low-income individuals have little spare 
        time.
            (5) While government safety net programs help tens of 
        million of individuals avoid starvation, homelessness, and 
        other outcomes even more dreadful than everyday poverty, there 
        are significant obstacles that those seeking and maintaining 
        government assistance face for as long as they are eligible. 
        Qualified applicants are often required to travel significant 
        distances to multiple government offices, preparing and 
        submitting piles of nearly identical paperwork to access the 
        different government assistance programs. Even when the 
        application process begins online, the eligible applicant is 
        typically still required to physically follow up with each 
        government office with physical copies, for near identical 
        meetings. As a result, many low-income people are actually 
        unaware of all the government benefits for which they are 
        eligible, reducing the amount of help going to individuals in 
        need by tens of billions of dollars every year. The lines in 
        these offices can seem endless, and sometimes clients need to 
        wait outside, for hours, in the worst kinds of weather. Many 
        offices don't have weekend or night hours, so an applicant is 
        at risk of losing wages when often their only option is to 
        apply for government help during work hours.
            (6) Each year, many vital government programs go 
        underutilized because eligible beneficiaries are hindered by 
        obtrusive, time consuming, and repetitive application barriers. 
        In 2017, according to the Department of Agriculture, 16 percent 
        of all people eligible for supplemental nutrition assistance 
        program (SNAP), 53 percent of the ``working poor'' eligible for 
        SNAP, and 52 percent of adults over 60 who were eligible failed 
        to receive it.
            (7) The United States has hundreds of thousands of 
        nonprofit groups providing high quality and much needed social 
        services, but it is nearly impossible for struggling people to 
        determine which of those organizations provides services they 
        need, whether the organization is conveniently located, and for 
        which services they are eligible. If they do determine that a 
        nonprofit (or multiple nonprofits) could help, they need to 
        take yet more time to visit each one.
            (8) Since many government and nonprofit programs require 
        frequent reapplications and recertifications, a low-income 
        person often has to repeat the same endless and frustrating 
        process.
            (9) Technology has fundamentally revamped the lives of most 
        individuals, usually for the better. According to the Pew 
        Research Center, 71 percent of low-income individuals have a 
        smart phone as of 2019 (not because a smart phone is a luxury 
        but because it is an essential tool of learning and work in 
        modern America) but they rarely can use these devices to apply 
        for benefits. Digital technology, combined with policy 
        improvements, can simplify the lives and boost the long-term 
        self-sufficiency of our lowest income residents.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

            (1) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of 
        Agriculture, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
        Development, acting collaboratively.
            (2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible pilot community'' 
        means a State, unit of general purpose local government, Tribal 
        government, or an entity that represents a smaller geographical 
        area therein (including a neighborhood).
            (3) Target population.--The term ``target population'' 
        includes an individual or household that--
                    (A) earns an income below 200 percent of the 
                Federal poverty line,
                    (B) suffers from food insecurity,
                    (C) earns insufficient income to ensure food 
                security or economic security,
                    (D) lives in a rural, suburban, or urban community 
                that suffers from poverty, hunger, or food insecurity,
                    (E) is homeless,
                    (F) receives (or recently received) assistance 
                under a State program funded under part A of title IV 
                of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. et seq.), 
                relating to temporary assistance to needy families,
                    (G) is eligible for benefits under any Federal 
                nutrition assistance program or Federal antipoverty 
                program, or
                    (H) is formerly a youth in transition from foster 
                care or the juvenile detention facilities.
            (4) Partner nonprofit organization.--The term ``partner 
        nonprofit organization'' means any national, regional, State, 
        or local nonprofit group described in section 501(c)(3) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 
        501(a) of such Code.

SEC. 4. HOPE ACCOUNTS PILOT PROJECTS.

    (a) Pilot Projects Authorized.--The Secretaries shall allow 
eligible entities that apply to do so--based on an application to be 
created by the Secretaries--to carry out HOPE (Health, Opportunity, and 
Personal Empowerment) Accounts Pilot Projects (in this section referred 
to as Projects) to enable target populations of individuals to 
establish through banks, credit unions, and any governmental or Tribal 
agencies HOPE accounts that enable such individuals--
            (1) to have their paychecks deposited directly in such 
        accounts,
            (2) to use such accounts to increase savings that would be 
        matched with funds provided by government and private sources, 
        including individual development accounts,
            (3) to use an account app on a smart phone to easily locate 
        and sign-up for job training and placement services online,
            (4) to enable such individuals to use any smart phone, 
        tablet, or computer--
                    (A) to learn about the public and philanthropic 
                programs that provide benefits to such individuals, 
                including aid to improve health, nutrition, job 
                training and placement, housing, income and to receive 
                Federal and State tax credits, and
                    (B) to apply for, submit eligibility documents for, 
                enroll in, and manage the use of such benefits at once 
                through the convenience of their device if individuals 
                or their households are eligible for 1 or more of such 
                benefits,
            (5) to receive a basic smart phone, tablet, or computer, 
        along with a subsidized internet Wi-Fi access plan, if such 
        individuals do not own a smart phone, tablet, or computer,
            (6) to obtain the access and information described in 
        paragraph (4) with assistance at libraries, government offices, 
        or nonprofit agencies if such individuals are uncomfortable 
        using internet technology themselves,
            (7) to obtain access to the information described in 
        paragraph (4), with the assistance of government or nonprofit 
        employees, AmeriCorps national service participants, or Senior 
        Corps members, to receive home visits if such individuals are 
        elderly or disabled,
            (8) to access health care information that specifies 
        medical benefits, and any out-of-pocket costs, for each of the 
        health plans for which such individuals may be eligible, and to 
        empower them to easily select the plan that works best for 
        them,
            (9) enable such individuals to file directly (and without 
        expending funds to obtain third-party tax filing services) to 
        obtain Federal tax credits and refunds, and in States and 
        localities with their own supplemental tax credits, to 
        simultaneously file for those,
            (10) to deposit cash in the account that is set aside for 
        education, job training, starting a business, or buying a home 
        and that would be nontaxable,
            (11) to easily access and monitor, in 1 central online 
        account--
                    (A) to be able to check the status, amounts, and 
                recertification deadlines for some or all their 
                benefits and savings, and
                    (B) to pay all bills online, saving high check 
                cashing fees and enormous amounts of time,
            (12) to budget their resources by using real-time cash flow 
        data and long-term financial planning data, including 
        calculating how much they would lose in interest on credit 
        cards versus how much they would gain in interest by saving 
        more,
            (13) to access calendar and scheduling functions that 
        enable them to keep track of all job search, work, family, and 
        school obligations, as well as any social service filing or 
        appointment dates,
            (14) to be protected by security and privacy systems so 
        that only such individuals, and not the government, nonprofit, 
        or banking partners would be able to see or track private 
        financial and appointment information, and
            (15) notwithstanding other provisions of law, to allow 
        program applicants to easily and clearly authorize their 
        sharing of personal and financial information with multiple 
        government agencies, solely for the purpose of those government 
        agencies enabling those to apply for and utilize government 
        benefits.
    (b) Fiscal Years.--Pilot projects authorized by subsection (a) 
shall be carried out for a 1-year period in each of the fiscal years 
2021 through 2026.

SEC. 5. HOPE ACTION PLANS PILOT PROJECTS.

    (a) Pilot Projects Authorized.--The Secretaries shall allow 
eligible entities that apply to do so--based on an application to be 
created by the Secretaries--to carry out HOPE Action Plans Pilot 
Projects to enable target populations of individuals to partner with 
government and nonprofit organizations by entering into voluntary 
agreements to carry out long-term HOPE action plans that--
            (1) specify exactly how the parties to such plans will help 
        such individuals and their families earn, learn, and save 
        better in order to ensure greater economic opportunity for 
        themselves and their children by working together in a long-
        term, positive relationship for the purpose of ensuring upward 
        mobility,
            (2) could empower such individuals and their families to 
        better organize their time and focus their activities on 
        productive endeavors while providing them extra resources to do 
        so,
            (3) could be short-term, over just a year or 2, and aimed 
        at helping families achieve very basic goals, such as avoiding 
        homelessness and hunger,
            (4) could be long-term with far more ambitious goals for 
        upward mobility, and
            (5) would require that participating individuals and 
        families, government entities, and nonprofit partners have 
        equal rights to hold each other accountable for plan outcomes 
        and funding.
    (b) Fiscal Years.--Pilot projects authorized by subsection (a) 
shall be carried out in each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2026.

SEC. 6. COMPETITIVE GRANTS FOR PILOT PROJECTS.

    (a) Application for Grant.--The Secretaries shall each create grant 
application processes to competitively make grants to eligible entities 
to aid target populations. To be eligible to receive a grant for a 
fiscal year under this section, eligible entities shall submit to the 
appropriate Secretary an application that contains a description of how 
the applicant proposes to use the grant funds to implement the 
components of the pilot projects authorized by this section. 
Applications shall be submitted in such form, at such time, and 
containing such other information as the Secretaries may require.
    (b) Form of Grants.--If a Secretary finds it appropriate, the 
Secretary may use cooperative agreements, as described in section 6305 
of title 31, United States Code, for purposes of making grants under 
this section.
    (c) Amount of Grant.--Grants made under this section shall range in 
amounts from $250,000 to $3,000,000, and should be proportionate to the 
geographical size, project complexity, and number of individuals 
participating in each project. Eligible entities may receive grants 
made under this section by 2 or more of the Secretaries. To the extent 
funds are available, each Secretary shall make not fewer than 8 such 
grants annually.
    (d) Distribution of Grants.--To the extent practicable, the 
Secretaries shall make grants for pilot projects that operate 
statewide, as well as pilot projects designed to serve specific rural, 
urban, and suburban areas. To the extent practicable, pilot projects 
for which grants are made shall be distributed among diverse 
administrative regions of Department of Housing and Urban Development, 
the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of 
Agriculture.
    (e) Preference.--For purposes of making grants under this section, 
preference shall be given for pilot projects that--
            (1) serve individuals in historically under-served, high-
        poverty, rural and urban communities,
            (2) simultaneously test both HOPE Accounts and HOPE Action 
        Plans,
            (3) involve low-income individuals as equal partners in 
        project planning and implementation,
            (4) make additional funds available directly to low-income 
        households through action plans, either through government 
        payments or through nonprofit subgrantees,
            (5) are matched by considerable non-Federal funds without 
        penalizing very-low income, under-served rural and urban 
        communities that cannot provide non-Federal matching funds,
            (6) propose concrete plans for long-term sustainability and 
        expansions without future Federal grant funds,
            (7) assist low-income households to apply for the Federal 
        earned income tax credits and State tax credits,
            (8) provide resources in both English and additional 
        languages commonly spoken in that jurisdiction,
            (9) prioritize client-facing, fully tested, technology and 
        mobile device applications,
            (10) include a robust monitoring and evaluation planning 
        and reporting plan, including proposed staffing and reporting 
        for that plan, including reporting on the extent to which the 
        pilot makes it easier, quicker, and less costly for low-income 
        Americans to access a variety of benefits, the extent to which 
        the pilot will save administrative funds over the long-run, the 
        extent to which the accuracy and integrity of the benefits 
        programs included are maintained or improved, and the extent to 
        which low-income households are able to more easily obtain free 
        or low-cost banking services,
            (11) subcontract part of the pilot project implementation 
        work to United States-based private businesses, banks, savings 
        and loans, credit unions, co-ops and section 501(c)(3) 
        nonprofit organizations with relevant, successful experience in 
        similar or related project activities,
            (12) incorporate a benefits calculator to enable applicants 
        to learn how the receipt of some benefits might or might not 
        impact whether they are eligible for other benefits and might 
        impact the amount of those other benefits for which they are 
        eligible,
            (13) include planning and funding for the pilot entities to 
        train their staffs and clients to utilize the new technologies,
            (14) in rural and other areas without strong broad-band 
        service, integrate activities under this grant with other 
        activities to strengthen local-broad band service,
            (15) enable low-income Americans to obtain free or reduced 
        price smart phones and free or reduced-price data services,
            (16) ensure that people without personal smart phone, 
        tablet, or computer access are able to benefit from the systems 
        and technological improvements in the pilot projects at public 
        locations such as public libraries, community centers, and 
        social service offices,
            (17) propose a detailed, workable plan to thoroughly beta 
        test and field test any new technologies or systems in this 
        pilot before making them available to all households, 
        individuals, or the entire pilot area, and
            (18) identify the applicable Federal, State, local, or 
        Tribal statutory and regulatory authorities, including waiver 
        authorities, to be potentially leveraged to most effectively 
        implement the proposed pilot project.

SEC. 7. HOPE TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION CONTRACTS.

    (a) Authority.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development, shall hold a merit-based competition to 
award HOPE Technology Innovation Contracts to United States-based 
private businesses and section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations with 
relevant, successful experience in technology, to create technology 
apps, widgets, and templates that pilot entities can use to create HOPE 
accounts.
    (b) Number of Contracts.--The Secretary will award no more than 10 
and not fewer than 2 such contracts each fiscal year.
    (c) Size of Contracts.--Contracts may range in size from $200,000 
to $4,500,000.
    (d) Availability to the Public.--All technologies developed with 
these funds will be open-sourced and available to the public for free.
    (e) Household Data.--No contractor should have access to any client 
or household data through this project, except in cases they are also 
contractors or subgrantees for pilot entities, in which case they would 
have limited, functional access to such data. In no case shall a 
contractor share or sell client or household data.
    (f) Preferences.--Preferences should be given to contracts that 
ensure the following:
            (1) Client facing technology with top preferences mobile 
        device applications and uses and secondary preferences to 
        tablet and computer and texting uses.
            (2) Incorporate fail-safe systems to maintain the privacy 
        and security of data.
            (3) Are easily adaptable at the lowest possible financial 
        costs with the least possible staff time by pilot entities and 
        other State, county, city, municipal, and Tribal governments in 
        a manner that can easily be utilized by low-income Americans.
            (4) Build in the ability to be easily updated as 
        technologies evolve.

SEC. 8. MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT AND NONDISPLACEMENT OF WORKERS.

    None of the pilot projects carried out under this Act shall do any 
of the following:
            (1) Decrease the overall monetary value of Federal, State, 
        local, or Tribal government funding assistance given to any 
        individual or family, although all entities involved could 
        independently, or jointly, increase funding under such 
        projects.
            (2) Decrease the overall Federal, State, local, or Tribal 
        government funding for antipoverty programs spent by 
        participating pilot communities and agencies, although all 
        entities involved may independently, or jointly, increase 
        funding.
            (3) Lengthen the amount of time or increase the 
        requirements necessary to receive any government 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 target 
        populations to receive government or nonprofit assistance.
            (5) Decrease overall public sector employment in any 
        eligible pilot community, but public employees could be 
        transferred at similar or higher salaries and pay grades from 
        positions that oversee paperwork to positions that provide 
        direct services to the public, assuming such transfers do not 
        violate collective 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 increase the 
        possibility of fraud in any government program.
            (8) Track or monitor the physical location or immigration 
        status of immigrants, be used for any immigration enforcement 
        activity against any individuals, or be used to provide any 
        data whatsoever to agencies involved in immigration enforcement 
        activities or policy.
            (9) Enable any pilot entity or contractor, subcontractor, 
        or partner of any pilot entity to share or sell client or 
        household data obtained through those projects.
            (10) Eliminate the existing ability of applicants to apply 
        for, recertify, or manage government benefits by physically 
        visiting a government office.

SEC. 9. ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    (a) Report.--Not later than September 30 of each of fiscal years 
2021 through 2027, the Secretaries shall submit to Congress a report on 
the results of pilot projects carried out under this Act.
    (b) Contents of Report.--The report should include detailed data on 
the extent to which the pilot makes it easier, quicker, and less costly 
for low-income Americans to access a variety of benefits, the extent to 
which the pilot will save administrative funds over the long-run, the 
extent to which the accuracy and integrity of the benefits programs 
included are maintained or improved, and the extent to which low-income 
households are able to more easily obtain free or low-cost banking 
services.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 
              AUTHORIZED.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this Act for each of the fiscal years 2021 
through 2026--
            (1) $10,000,000 to the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
        Development, of which $500,000 shall be used internally by the 
        Department of Housing and Urban Development for staff and other 
        expenses to plan, award, and oversee pilot projects under this 
        Act and $9,500,000 shall be available for grants under section 
        6,
            (2) $10,000,000 to the Secretary of Agriculture, of which 
        $500,000 shall be used internally by Department of Agriculture 
        for staff and other expenses to plan, award, and oversee pilot 
        projects under this Act and $9,500,000 shall be available for 
        grants under section 6, and
            (3) $15,000,000 to the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services, of which $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 this 
        Act and $9,500,000 shall be available for grants under section 
        6, and 5,000,000 shall be available for contracts under section 
        7.
    (b) Technical Assistance Authorized.--The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing 
and Urban Development, the Secretary of Veterans of Affairs, the 
Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Labor, the Commissioner of 
the Internal Revenue Service, the Chief Executive Officer of the 
Corporation for National and Community Service, the Administrator of 
the Small Business Administration, the Director of the Office of 
Management and Budget, the Office of Science and Technology, the 
Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Domestic 
Policy Council may--
            (1) provide technical assistance,
            (2) solicit voluntary, nonmonetary assistance from 
        universities, credit unions, and private sector technology 
        companies, banks, and financial institutions, and
            (3) inform eligible entities of the applicable Federal, 
        State, local, or Tribal statutory and regulatory authorities, 
        including waiver authorities,
to advance the objectives of the pilot projects carried out under this 
Act.
    (c) Persistent Poverty Counties.--
            (1) Allocation requirement.--Of the amount appropriated to 
        carry out this Act, at least 10 percent shall be allocated to 
        provide assistance in persistent poverty counties.
            (2) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term 
        ``persistent poverty counties'' means any county that has had 
        20 percent or more of its population living in poverty over the 
        past 30 years, as measured by the 1990, 2000, and 2010 
        decennial censuses.
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