Half in Ten Act of 2011 - Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty, which shall develop a National Plan or Strategy to reduce the number of persons living in poverty in America in half within 10 years after release of the 2011 Census report on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3300 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3300
To establish the Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty
which will create and carry out a national plan to cut poverty in
America in half in ten years.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 1, 2011
Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Mr. Stark, Mr. Lewis of Georgia,
Mr. Baca, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Butterfield,
Mr. Serrano, Ms. Brown of Florida, and Mr. Kucinich) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty
which will create and carry out a national plan to cut poverty in
America in half in ten years.
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 ``Half in Ten Act of 2011''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Poverty can be seen as a deep, structural problem that
implicates our value system and our educational and economic
institutions.
(2) Poverty may be defined as the lack of basic necessities
of life such as food, shelter, clothing, health care,
education, economic security, and economic opportunity.
(3) Policy initiatives and many safety net programs
addressing poverty have not kept pace with the needs of
millions of Americans.
(4) The lack of an equitable distribution of housing
choices across the country leads to isolation and concentrated
poverty.
(5) The number of Americans living in poverty rose by over
2.6 million from 2009 to 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, September
2011).
(6) There were 46.2 million Americans living in poverty in
2010, consisting of 15.1 percent of the American people (U.S.
Census Bureau, September 2011).
(7) Poverty has a disproportionate impact on minority
communities in America with 27.4 percent of African-Americans,
26.6 percent of Hispanics, 12.1 percent of Asian Americans, and
9.9 percent of Whites living in poverty in the United States in
2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, September 2011).
(8) In 2010 a family of 4 was considered poor under the
U.S. Census Bureau's official measure if the family's income
was below $22,314.
(9) The economic consequences of poverty in the United
States are estimated to be at least $500 billion per year
(Center for American Progress, 2007).
(10) Children who grow up in poverty experience higher
crime rates, decreased productivity, and higher health costs
over their lives (Center for American Progress, 2007).
(11) 3,500,000 seniors lived in poverty in 2010 (U.S.
Census Bureau, 2011).
(12) Young Americans, ages 18-24, experience a higher
poverty rate than the national average (U.S. Census Bureau,
2011).
(13) 16,400,000 children lived in poverty in 2010--more
than one in every five American children (U.S. Census Bureau,
2011).
(14) Almost 35 percent of African-American children and
over 30 percent of Hispanic children lived in poverty in 2009
(U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).
(15) The 46,180,000 of Americans in poverty in 2010 was the
largest number yet recorded in the 52 years for which poverty
estimates are available (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).
(16) Children who live in families who fall into poverty
for even short periods of time are at greater risk of a
lifetime of lower earnings, lower educational attainment, and
increased reliance on public services and increased rates of
incarceration (First Focus, 2008).
(17) It is estimated that the additional 3 million children
who were forced into poverty due to the recession of 2008,
resulted in $35 billion in economic losses annually, and will
cause at least $1.7 trillion in economic losses to the United
States during their lifetimes (First Focus, 2008).
(18) Reducing poverty, especially child poverty, not only
reduces costs for Federal, State, and local social services and
benefits programs, but also increases tax revenue at all levels
of government (Children's Defense Fund, 2009).
(19) The House of Representatives, on January 22, 2008, has
resolved that it is the sense of Congress that the United
States should set a national goal of cutting poverty in half
over the next 10 years.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency'' means any
executive department, Government corporation, Government-
controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive
branch of the Government (including the Executive Office of the
President), or any independent regulatory agency.
(2) Poverty.--The term ``poverty'' means an income level
and living standard associated with and based on the official
poverty measure as established and updated by the U.S. Census
Bureau which establishes a threshold of minimum income
necessary to achieve a standard of living free from deprivation
of basic needs.
(3) Extreme poverty.--The term ``extreme poverty'' means
having an income level or living standard at a level of extreme
deprivation based on living with income below 50 percent of the
Federal poverty line as established by the U.S. Census.
(4) Near poverty.--The term ``near poverty'' means having a
level of household income below 200 percent of the Federal
poverty line.
(5) Child poverty.--The term ``child poverty'' means
poverty which impacts those persons under 18 years of age.
(6) Deprivation.--The term ``deprivation'' means lacking
some or all basic human needs.
(7) Decent living standard.--The term ``decent living
standard'' means the amount of annual income that would allow
an individual to live beyond deprivation at a safe and decent,
but modest, standard of living.
(8) Alternative poverty measures.--The term ``alternative
poverty measures'' means measures and indicators, other than
the traditional income based measure of poverty, which can
provide a more detailed picture of the low-income and poverty
stricken populations, such as the number of people who were
kept above poverty by Government supports, the number of people
who are poor due to medical expenses, child care, and work
expenses, the rates of food insecurity, the number of people
who are asset poor (with less than three months of income
saved), the number of disconnected youth, teen birth rates,
participation rates in Federal anti-poverty programs for all
eligible populations, and the number of people who are
unbanked.
(9) Regional costs of living.--The term ``regional costs of
living'' means a measure of the differing costs of maintaining
a given living standard in varying regional, geographic, urban
or rural regions.
(10) Economic insecurity.--The term ``economic insecurity''
means the inability of individuals and households to cope with
routine adverse or costly life events and the lack of means to
maintain a decent standard of living and to recover from the
costly consequences of those events.
(11) Economic stability.--The term ``economic stability''
means individuals and households have access to the means and
support systems necessary to effectively cope with adverse or
costly life events and have the ability to effectively recover
from the consequences of those events while maintaining their
standard of living or maintaining a decent standard of living.
(12) Digital divide.--The term ``digital divide'' means the
gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic
areas at different socio-economic levels with regard to both
their access information and communications technologies and
including the imbalance both in physical access to technology
and the resources, education and skills needed to effectively
use computer technology and the Internet for a wide variety of
activities.
(13) Outcomes.--The term ``outcomes'' means change in the
economic status, economic instability or economic security of
an individual, household or other population which is
attributable to a planned intervention, benefit, or service or
series of interventions, benefits, and services, regardless of
whether such an intervention was intended to change such
economic status.
(14) Disparate impact.--The term ``disparate impact''
refers to the historic and ongoing impacts of the pattern and
practice of discrimination in employment, education, housing,
banking and nearly every other aspect of American life in the
economy, society or culture that have an adverse impact on
minorities, women, or other protected groups, regardless of
whether such practices were motivated by discriminatory intent.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERAL INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP ON
REDUCING POVERTY.
(a) Establishment of Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing
Poverty.--There is established within the Department of Health and
Human Services, a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing
Poverty, which shall be chaired by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, and whose members shall be selected by their respective
agency heads from the senior ranks of their agencies, which shall--
(1) develop, within 180 days of enactment, a National Plan
or Strategy to reduce the number of persons living in poverty
in America in half within 10 years of the release of the 2011
Census report on Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage
in the United States: 2010, that includes goals and objectives
relating to--
(A) reducing in half the number of Americans living
in poverty as reported by the 2011 Census report on
Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the
United States: 2010;
(B) eliminating child poverty in America;
(C) eliminating extreme poverty in America;
(D) improving the effectiveness and outcomes of
poverty related programs by improving our understanding
of the root causes of poverty, the social, economic,
and the cultural contributors to persistent
intergenerational poverty;
(E) improving the measure of poverty to include
more indicators and measures that can meaningfully
account for other aspects relating to the measure of
poverty, such as regional differences in costs of
living, the impact of rising income inequality, the
impact of the persistent ``digital divide'', expanding
the understanding of poverty by distinguishing a
standard that measures a level of freedom from
deprivation versus a standard that measures a standard
of economic adequacy provided by a living wage and
access to a decent living standard, and the impact of
poverty on other measures of economic stability and
economic outcomes, such as educational attainment,
rates of incarceration, lifetime earnings, access to
healthcare, healthcare outcomes, access to housing, and
including other measures as necessary to improve our
understanding of why poverty persists in America;
(F) eliminating the disparate rates of poverty
based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, or sexual
orientation and identity, especially among children in
those households so impacted;
(G) measuring effectiveness of poverty related
programs on the basis of long term outcomes, including
the long term savings and value of preventive practice
and policy, and employing fact based measures of
programs to make improvements;
(H) improving the accessibility of benefit and
social services programs, reducing the complexity and
difficulty of enrollment, and improving the rates of
enrollment in need based programs for all eligible
recipients to maximize the impact of benefits and
social services programs on reducing the impacts of
poverty and improving economic outcomes;
(I) expanding eligibility to improve the
coordination of service delivery, reduce gaps in
eligibility, and improve outcomes of programs
addressing poverty in the Federal Government;
(J) reducing the negative impact of asset limits on
eligibility for Federal programs on the effectiveness
of programs where limited eligibility creates gaps in
necessary service and benefit delivery, and in access
which prevents needy beneficiaries from improving long
term outcomes and achieving long term economic
independence from need based programs;
(K) improving the access of poor, low-income, and
the unemployed to good jobs with adequate wages and
benefits;
(L) expanding and stabilizing poor and low income
persons connection to work;
(M) developing a comprehensive strategy to connect
low-income young people and to re-connect currently
disconnected youth to education, work, and their
community; and
(N) shifting the focus of poverty and human needs
programs across the Federal Government beyond the
relief of deprivation to instead setting goals,
measures, and outcomes related to helping individuals
and families rise up and out of poverty and achieving
long term economic stability which will reduce long
term costs in domestic social needs programs, reduce
long term healthcare costs due to the improved health
of formerly poverty stricken households, increase the
number of tax paying individuals which will increase
revenue, and lower the enrollment and costs in need
based benefits and services programs, thus improving
the economy and reducing long term deficits for
Federal, State, and local governments;
(2) oversee, coordinate, and integrate all policies and
activities of the Federal Government, in coordination and
consultation with the Domestic Policy Council and the National
Economic Council, across all agencies relating to reducing the
number of individuals, families, and children living below the
Federal poverty line, in extreme poverty or near poverty and
increasing the number of households able to achieve long-term
economic stability with assets sufficient to maintain a decent
living standard without relying on public supports--
(A) economic, commercial, and programmatic policies
that can effect or relieve the effects of poverty
through job creation, and economic development targeted
to low income, minority, rural, urban and other
populations who suffer disparate rates of poverty,
among Federal agencies; and
(B) services and benefits including emergency
programs, discretionary economic programs, and other
policies and activities necessary to ensure that the
Federal Government is able to mount effective responses
to economic downturns and increases in the rates of
poverty;
(3) ensure that all relevant Federal agencies and
congressional committees comply with appropriate guidelines,
policies, and directives from the Federal Interagency Working
Group on Reducing Poverty and the Department of Health and
Human Services and other Federal agencies with responsibilities
relating to poverty reduction or improving economic stability
and independence;
(4) ensure that Federal agencies have access to, receive,
and appropriately disseminate best practices in the
administration of programs, have adequate resources to maximize
the public awareness of programs, increase the reach of those
programs, especially into historically disenfranchised
communities, maximize enrollment for all eligible Americans,
share relevant data, and issue relevant guidance in
consultation with non-government organizations and policy
experts in the field and State and local government officials
who administer or direct policy for anti-poverty programs in
increasing and maximizing the enrollment into and
administration of programs and services designed to alleviate
poverty; and
(5) enact best practices for improved data collection,
relevant to--
(A) reducing poverty;
(B) reducing the racial, ethnic, age, gender, and
sexual orientation or sexual identity based disparities
in the rates of poverty;
(C) the effectiveness and efficiency of programs;
(D) streamlining enrollment and eligibility for
programs;
(E) improving long term outcomes for programs;
(F) reducing reliance on public programs;
(G) improving connections to work;
(H) improving economic stability;
(I) improving savings and investment, access to
capital, increasing rates of entrepreneurship;
(J) improving access to living wage employment; and
(K) improving access to employment based benefits.
(b) Director of National Poverty Policy.--There shall be a Staff
Director of National Poverty Policy, who shall be the head of the
Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty.
SEC. 5. APPOINTMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR.
(a) Appointment.--
(1) In general.--The Staff Director shall be appointed by
the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(2) Qualifications.--The Secretary shall appoint the Staff
Director from among individuals who have demonstrated ability
and knowledge in social policy, improving outcome based
management, issues of equity and equal opportunity and access
to services and economic opportunity.
(b) Responsibilities.--The Staff Director shall--
(1) advise the Secretary and all relevant cabinet
secretaries, and agency officials regarding the establishment
of policies, goals, objectives, and priorities for reducing
poverty in America in half in ten years, ending child poverty,
ending extreme poverty and eliminating racial, ethnic, gender,
and sexual identity and orientation based disparities in the
rates of poverty;
(2) advise the Secretary, relevant cabinet secretaries,
heads of independent Federal agencies and other entities within
the Executive Office of the President regarding mechanisms to
improve the effectiveness, coordination, impact, and outcomes
of social services, benefits, and other poverty reduction and
economic opportunity programs, in collaboration with experts in
the field, non-governmental organizations, and other
governments;
(3) work with Federal agencies to oversee, coordinate, and
integrate the implementation of the National Plan or Strategy,
including consultation with independent non-governmental policy
experts and service provider groups engaged in serving low-
income persons, children and households, State and local
government officials who administer or direct policy for anti-
poverty programs, and with as many groups that directly
represent low-income people, such as public housing tenants'
associations, or other similar groups; and
(4) resolve any disputes that arise between Federal
agencies relating to the National Plan to reduce poverty in
half in ten years or other matters within the responsibility of
the Office.
SEC. 6. CONSULTATION.
(a) In General.--The Director may consult and obtain
recommendations from, as needed, such Presidential and other advisory
entities such as consultation with independent non-governmental policy
experts and service provider groups engaged in serving low-income
persons, children, and households; State and local government officials
who administer or direct policy for anti-poverty programs, and groups
made up of low-income people, such as public housing tenants'
associations, or other similar groups as the Director determines will
assist in carrying out the mission of the Office, including--
(1) the Administration for Children and Families (ACF);
(2) the Administration on Aging (AoA);
(3) the Department of Agriculture (USDA);
(4) the Bankruptcy Courts;
(5) the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection;
(6) the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA);
(7) the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA);
(8) the Bureau of the Census;
(9) the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion;
(10) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (formerly
the Health Care Financing Administration);
(11) the Commission on Civil Rights;
(12) the Office of Community Planning and Development;
(13) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau;
(14) the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention;
(15) the Corporation for National and Community Service;
(16) the Council of Economic Advisers;
(17) the Department of Agriculture (USDA);
(18) the Department of Commerce (DOC);
(19) the Department of Defense (DOD);
(20) the Department of Education (ED);
(21) the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS);
(22) the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD);
(23) the Department of Justice (DOJ);
(24) the Department of Labor (DOL);
(25) the Department of the Treasury;
(26) the Department of Transportation (DOT);
(27) the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA);
(28) the Disability Employment Policy Office;
(29) the Domestic Policy Council;
(30) the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA);
(31) the Economic Development Administration;
(32) the Economic Research Service;
(33) the English Language Acquisition Office;
(34) the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC);
(35) the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity;
(36) the Federal Bureau of Prisons;
(37) the Federal Housing Finance Board;
(38) the Federal Labor Relations Authority;
(39) the Federal Trade Commission (FTC);
(40) the Food and Nutrition Service;
(41) the Indian Health Service;
(42) the Interagency Council on Homelessness;
(43) the Internal Revenue Service (IRS);
(44) the Legal Services Corporation;
(45) the National AIDS Policy Office;
(46) the National Credit Union Administration;
(47) the National Economic Council;
(48) the National Institutes of Health (NIH);
(49) the National Labor Relations Board;
(50) the Occupational Safety & Health Administration
(OSHA);
(51) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB);
(52) the Office of Refugee Resettlement;
(53) the Office of Policy Development and Research (Housing
and Urban Development Department);
(54) the Small Business Administration (SBA);
(55) the Social Security Administration (SSA);
(56) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration;
(57) the Veterans' Employment and Training Service; and
(58) the Women's Bureau (Labor Department).
(b) National Strategy.--In developing and updating the National
Strategy the Executive Director shall consult with the Domestic Policy
Council, the National Economic Council, and, as appropriate, hold
regional public hearings around the country to collect information and
feedback from the public on their efforts and experience for the
development and updating of the National Strategy and make this
information available to the public.
SEC. 7. REPORTS TO CONGRESS AND THE PUBLIC.
(a) In General.--The Chair of the Federal Interagency Working Group
on Reducing Poverty shall submit an annual report to the appropriate
congressional committees describing the activities, ongoing projects,
and plans of the Federal Government designed to meet the goals and
objectives of the National Strategy on Poverty. The report shall
include an accounting of the savings to the Government from any
increased efficiencies in the delivery of services, any savings from
reducing the numbers of Americans living in poverty and reductions in
the demand for need based services and benefits for which persons
living in and near poverty are eligible, as well as an accounting of
any increase in revenue collections due to the numbers of persons who
become gainfully employed and pay taxes into the Treasury instead of
drawing benefits and services from it.
(b) National Academy of Sciences Workshop.--Within 90 days after
funds are made available to carry out this Act, the Secretary of Health
and Human Services shall contract with the National Academy of Sciences
(hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the ``NAS'') to initiate
a workshop series to provide necessary background information to enable
the Working Group on Reducing Poverty to develop and finalize its plan.
(1) The NAS shall convene a steering committee to organize,
plan, and conduct a public workshop on what is known about the
economic and social costs of poverty, including, but not
limited to the following:
(A) Macroeconomic costs (effects on productivity
and economic output).
(B) Health costs (effects on health expenditures
and health status).
(C) Crime and other social costs.
(D) Direct federal budget effects (e.g., outlays
for income support and other poverty reduction
programs).
(E) The workshop shall also consider poverty
metrics (e.g., income poverty, food insecurity, and
other measures of deprivation), and their role in
assessing the effects of poverty and the performance of
anti-poverty programs.
The NAS shall commission experts to prepare papers that
summarize and critique the relevant literature estimating
monetary and non-monetary economic and social impacts of
poverty. A workshop summary shall be produced that, along with
the papers, shall be available electronically on the NAS
website. This workshop shall be convened within 6 months of
receipt of a contract, the papers posted immediately, and the
summary released by the end of month.
(2) The NAS steering committee shall organize, plan, and
conduct a second public workshop on what is known about the
economic and social costs and benefits of a variety of programs
and strategies to reduce and prevent poverty. It shall take
account of such issues as the following:
(A) Short-term versus long-term effects, including
budget implications.
(B) Effects for different population groups, such
as children, the elderly, immigrants, long-term single-
parent families, displaced older workers, young people
with large loans, people in areas of concentrated
poverty and other social ills (e.g., Indian
reservations, some inner city areas, some rural areas).
(C) Effects by depth of poverty and near-poverty
(e.g., income to poverty ratios of less than 50
percent, less than 100 percent, less than 200 percent).
This second workshop shall be convened within 9 months of
receipt of a contract, the papers posted immediately, and a
summary released by the end of month 12.
(c) Report.--The relevant sections of the report shall be posted on
each agency's website on the plans and impacts specific to their
agency.
(d) Public Report.--A version of each report submitted under this
section shall be made available to the public.
(e) Legislative Language.--The Working Group on Reducing Poverty
shall submit, as necessary, legislative language, including specific
legislative recommendations to the Congress of the United States
towards achieving the national goals.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H7262)
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