119-hr702

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 702 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 702

 To modify the measure and use of the poverty line issued by the 
 Secretary of Health and Human Services to more accurately account for 
 the basic needs of families and regional costs of living.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 23, 2025

 Ms. Sherrill introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
 fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To modify the measure and use of the poverty line issued by the 
 Secretary of Health and Human Services to more accurately account for 
 the basic needs of families and regional costs of living.

 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 ``Improving Federal Assistance to 
Families Act''.

SEC. 2. NEW POVERTY LINE INDEX.

    (a) In General.--The Bureau of the Census shall develop and publish 
a new poverty line index to be measured separately for each State on an 
annual basis and to be known as the ``Regionally Adjusted Poverty 
Line''.

    (b) Revisions.--The Regionally Adjusted Poverty Line shall be a 
revised version of the most recent poverty line that, for each State--

    (1) uses new poverty thresholds created by multiplying the 
 State's most recent poverty thresholds by its most recent 
 Regional Price Parity, divided by 100; and

    (2) uses new poverty rates created by using the poverty 
 thresholds determined in paragraph

    (1) rather than each State's 
 current poverty thresholds to determine the percentage of 
 households that are below each State's poverty line.

SEC. 3. USE OF THE REGIONALLY ADJUSTED POVERTY LINE IN LIEU OF THE 
 POVERTY LINE.

 The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, shall--

    (1) determine, for each State annually, which poverty line 
 index between the Regionally Adjusted Poverty Line as specified 
 in 

section 2 and the current poverty line has a higher poverty 
 rate for such State;

    (2) issue, and publish in the Federal Register, for each 
 State, the poverty line index that has a higher poverty rate 
 for such State as specified in paragraph

    (1) in lieu of the 
 poverty line; and

    (3) for each State--
        (A) except as provided in subparagraph
        (B) , use the 
 poverty line index that has a higher poverty rate for 
 such State as specified in paragraph

    (1) for 
 administrative purposes, including for determining 
 financial eligibility for certain Federal programs, in 
 lieu of the poverty line, and
        (B) for the purpose of determining financial 
 eligibility for Premium Tax Credits under the 
 Affordable Care Act, have flexibility to use either the 
 Regionally Adjusted Poverty Line or the current poverty 
 line to ensure low-income households in States not 
 expanding Medicaid do not lose access to Premium Tax 
 Credits.

SEC. 4. GAO STUDY ON ALICE POVERTY MEASURE.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the enactment of the 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Government 
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 
of the House of Representatives, a report containing the results of a 
study on--

    (1) the advantages and disadvantages of the ALICE threshold 
 as a measure of poverty and household material need relative to 
 the current poverty line, including any additional information 
 that the ALICE threshold provides to policymakers that is not 
 available from the current poverty line;

    (2) any areas in which the ALICE threshold can be improved 
 to better measure household material need or improve upon the 
 current poverty line;

    (3) how the Government can assist in the development and 
 publication of the ALICE threshold; and

    (4) how, if at all, the ALICE threshold could be 
 incorporated into the financial eligibility criteria, both that 
 maintained by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and 
 that legislated by Congress, for certain Federal programs to 
 better meet the material need of households and improve access 
 to certain Federal programs.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Alice threshold.--The term ``ALICE threshold'' means 
 the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed measure 
 developed by the United Way of Northern New Jersey as an 
 alternative to the poverty line that includes the regional 
 minimum cost of necessities including housing, child care, 
 food, transportation, healthcare, and taxes.

    (2) Poverty line.--The term ``poverty line'' has the same 
 definition as under 

section 673 of the Community Services Block 
 Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902).

    (3) Poverty threshold.--The term ``poverty threshold'' 
 means the dollar amounts used by the Bureau of the Census to 
 determine a household's poverty line status.

    (4) Regional price parity.--The term ``Regional Price 
 Parity'' means the difference in price levels between a State 
 and the national average, expressed as a percentage of the 
 overall national price level, as published by the Bureau of 
 Economic Analysis.

    (5) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the 
 United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 
 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATES.

 

Section 2 shall take effect 1 year after the date of the enactment 
of this Act and 

section 3 shall take effect 3 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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