Improving Federal Assistance to Families Act

[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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