,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #gjb  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of   
,,representatives  ,january #bc1        
#bjbe,ms4 ,sherrill introduced the      
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,oversight and        
,government ,reform1 and in addition to 
the ,committee on ,ways and ,means1 for 
a period to be subsequently determined  
by the ,speaker1 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       
living4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may
 be cited as the ,improving ,federal    
,assistance to ,families ,act 4  #b4    
,new poverty line index  7a7 ,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 ,line4  7b7 ,revisions ,the    
,regionally ,adjusted ,poverty ,line    
shall be a revised version of the most  
recent poverty line that1 for each      
,state-- 7#a7 uses new poverty          
thresholds created by multiplying the   
,state's most recent poverty thresholds 
by its most recent ,regional ,price     
,parity1 divided by #ajj2 and  7#b7 uses
 new poverty rates created by using the 
poverty thresholds determined in        
paragraph 7#a7 rather than each ,state's
 current poverty thresholds to determine
 the percentage of households that are  
below each ,state's poverty line4  #c4  
,use of the regionally adjusted poverty 
line in lieu of the poverty line ,the   
,secretary of ,health and ,human        
,services1 in consultation with the     
,secretary of ,housing and ,urban       
,development1 shall-- 7#a7 determine1   
for each ,state annually1 which poverty 
line index between the ,regionally      

,adjusted ,poverty ,line as specified in
 section #b and the current poverty line
 has a higher poverty rate for such     
,state2  7#b7 issue1 and publish in the 
,federal ,register1 for each ,state1 the
 poverty line index that has a higher   
poverty rate for such ,state as         
specified in paragraph 7#a7 in lieu of  
the poverty line2 and  7#c7 for each    
,state-- 7,a7 except as provided in     
subparagraph 7,b71 use the poverty line 
index that has a higher poverty rate for
 such ,state as specified in paragraph  
7#a7 for administrative purposes1       
including for determining financial     
eligibility for certain ,federal        
programs1 in lieu of the poverty line1  
and  7,b7 for the purpose of determining
 financial eligibility for ,premium ,tax
 ,credits under the ,affordable ,care   
,act1 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 ,credits4  #d4 ,,gao   
study on ,,alice poverty measure  7a7   
,in general ,not later than #b years    
after the enactment of the enactment of 
this ,act1 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        
,representatives1 a report containing   
the results of a study on-- 7#a7 the    
advantages and disadvantages of the     
,,alice threshold as a measure of       
poverty and household material need     
relative to the current poverty line1   
including any additional information    
that the ,,alice threshold provides to  
policymakers that is not available from 
the current poverty line2  7#b7 any     
areas in which the ,,alice threshold can
 be improved to better measure household
 material need or improve upon the      
current poverty line2  7#c7 how the     
,government can assist in the           

development and publication of the      
,,alice threshold2 and  7#d7 how1 if at 
all1 the ,,alice threshold could be     
incorporated into the financial         
eligibility criteria1 both that         
maintained by the ,secretary of ,health 
and ,human ,services and that legislated
 by ,congress1 for certain ,federal     
programs to better meet the material    
need of households and improve access to
 certain ,federal programs4  #e4        
,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,alice 
threshold ,the term ,,alice threshold   
means the ,asset ,limited1 ,income      
,constrained1 ,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 housing1 child care1 food1    
transportation1 healthcare1 and taxes4  
7#b7 ,poverty line ,the term poverty    
line has the same definition as under   
section #fgc of the ,community ,services
 ,block ,grant ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4      

#iijb74  7#c7 ,poverty threshold ,the   
term poverty threshold means the dollar 
amounts used by the ,bureau of the      
,census to determine a household's      
poverty line status4  7#d7 ,regional    
price parity ,the term ,regional ,price 
,parity means the difference in price   
levels between a ,state and the national
 average1 expressed as a percentage of  
the overall national price level1 as    
published by the ,bureau of ,economic   
,analysis4  7#e7 ,state ,the term ,state
 means any ,state of the ,united        
,states1 the ,district of ,columbia1 the
 ,commonwealth of ,puerto ,rico1 the    
,virgin ,islands1 ,guam1 ,american      
,samoa1 and the ,commonwealth of the    
,northern ,mariana ,islands4  #f4       
,effective dates ,section #b shall take 
effect #a year after the date of the    
enactment of this ,act and section #c   
shall take effect #c years after the    
date of the enactment of this ,act4