H.R. 352House110th Congress (2007-2009)In Committee

Poverty Impact Trigger Act of 2007

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HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H4200)

April 26, 2007

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

January 9, 2007

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, 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.

Rules Committee

January 9, 2007

HouseIntro Referral

Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H4200)

April 26, 2007

Floor Debate

1 member

What members said about H.R. 352 on the floor

1 Democrat

Rep. Barbara LeeD-CA-9 · Apr 26, 2007

Last year, and I guess also nearly 2 years ago, and really for many of our lives, we have known that there is a poverty crisis in America, which is growing. I think what we saw after the terrible…

Last year, and I guess also nearly 2 years ago, and really for many of our lives, we have known that there is a poverty crisis in America, which is growing. I think what we saw after the terrible hurricanes was that this gap, of course, is widening between the haves and the have-nots, and it is not only in the gulf coast region, it is throughout our country.

While the hurricanes, especially Hurricane Katrina, exposed the disparity for all to see, the fact is, poverty is not just isolated to the gulf coast; it does exist throughout our Nation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about the fact and to remind the country that our land really should be a land of opportunity, but the sad reality is that income inequality continues to grow, and more people are falling into poverty than getting ahead. We are heading in the wrong direction, and we need a national commitment to address the growing poverty crisis in the Nation. That is why this week's release of a report by the Center for American Progress entitled, ``From Poverty to Prosperity'', a national strategy to cut poverty in half, this is a significant contribution to the efforts of antipoverty activists, and it is a valuable roadmap for concerned lawmakers, like all of us are.

The report found that not only is poverty in the United States bad, it's getting worse. Just consider the fact that over 37 million Americans, more than the population of my home State, are in poverty, and the number has grown by 5 million since the Bush administration took office. One in eight Americans now live in poverty. Poverty in the United States is far higher than in many other developed nations, and poverty and inequality, of course, here is at an all-time high.

The richest 1 percent of Americans in 2005 held the largest share of the Nation's income since 1929, and at the same time, the poorest 20 percent held only 3.4 percent of the Nation's income.

The report's recommendations are based on four principles: promoting decent work, promoting opportunity for all; ensuring economic security; and helping people build wealth. Based on these principles, the report offered 12 steps, which include raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation, expanding the earned income and children's tax credits, promoting unionization by making it easier for employees to vote to join a union, offering child care assistance for low-income families, guaranteeing early education for all, and providing 2 million people with opportunity housing vouchers.

Madam Speaker, you may have noticed that the new Democratic Congress has taken steps toward enacting these recommendations. Additionally, many of my colleagues have been advocating for related poverty alleviation issues and ideas and strategies through the Out-of-Poverty Caucus that I founded, along with my colleagues, Congressman John Conyers, Congressman Butterfield, Congressman Mike Honda, and Congressman Joe Baca.

In the same vein, I have also introduced a comprehensive package of poverty elimination legislation. These three bills are designed to create leadership, accountability, and the national reevaluation of our economic priorities and developing policies to eliminate poverty in our Nation.

The first bill, H. Con. Res 19, calls on President Bush to submit to Congress a plan, this is just a plan, mind you, to eradicate poverty by 2015.

The second bill, H. Con. Res 10, requires accountability from Congress by requiring the Congressional Budget Office to report the poverty impact of legislation pending before Congress similar to environmental impact statements.

The final bill, H.R. 352, demands a reevaluation of our priorities by rolling back tax cuts for the wealthiest 5 percent and dedicating the funds to poverty elimination programs.

Madam Speaker, fighting poverty really isn't a mystery, it's just not a priority for us, and it's time to make it a national priority. It just requires us to make a commitment to the goal of eliminating poverty and then dedicate the resources to do that.

So I urge my colleagues to join me in this important fight by reading the report, first of all, and cosponsoring these bills and joining the Out-of-Poverty Caucus.

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued January 9, 2007

        [Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 352 Introduced in House (IH)]

1st Session
H. R. 352

To require poverty impact statements for certain legislation.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 9, 2007

Ms. Lee introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Rules, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, 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 require poverty impact statements for certain legislation.

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 ``Poverty Impact Trigger Act of
2007''.

SEC. 2. CERTAIN POVERTY IMPACT LEGISLATION SUBJECT TO POINT OF ORDER.

Rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended by
adding at the end the following new clause:
``Certain legislation reported by committees
``11. It shall not be in order to consider a bill or joint resolution
of a public nature authorizing an appropriation of $10,000,000 or more,
unless--
``(a) the committee report accompanying the bill or joint
resolution includes a CBO Poverty Index Division impact
statement; or
``(b) the chairman of the committee reporting the bill or
joint resolution submits such statement to be published in the
Congressional Record before consideration of the bill or joint
resolution.''.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE POVERTY IMPACT DIVISION.

(a) In General.--Section 202 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974 (2 U.S.C. 602) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(h) CBO Poverty Impact Division.--
``(1) Creation.--There is established within the Office the
CBO Poverty Impact Division (hereinafter in this subsection
referred to as the `Division').
``(2) Duties and functions.--
``(A) Preparation and submission of impact
statement.--When a chairman of a committee of the House
of Representatives submits a written request to the
Division to prepare and submit to the committee a CBO
Poverty Index Division impact statement, the Division
shall prepare and submit such statement to the
committee not later than 30 days after such request.
``(B) Content of impact statement.--A CBO Poverty
Index Division impact statement shall include the
following:
``(i) A projected ratio equal to the amount
of appropriations authorized in the bill or
joint resolution that will benefit individuals
and families below the poverty threshold over
the total amount of appropriations authorized
by the bill or joint resolution.
``(ii) A projection of the number of
individual and family incomes--
``(I) that may decrease below the
poverty threshhold because of the bill
or joint resolution; and
``(II) that may increase above the
poverty threshhold because of the bill
or joint resolution.
``(iii) A projection as to how the
legislation improves access to basic human
services, including health care, housing, and
education.
``(C) Poverty threshold defined.--In this
subsection, the term `poverty threshold' means an
income level below 200 percent of the poverty line (as
defined in section 673(2) of the Community Services
Block Grant Act).''.

SEC. 4. EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.

Section 2 of this Act is enacted by the House of Representatives--
(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House of
Representatives and as such it shall be considered as part of
the rules of the House of Representatives and such rules shall
supersede other rules only to the extent that they are
inconsistent therewith; and
(2) with the full recognition of the constitutional right
of the House of Representatives to change such rules at any
time, in the same manner, and to the same extent as in the case
of any other rule of the House of Representatives.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Act shall apply to any bill or joint resolution reported by a
committee after the 90-day period beginning on the date of enactment of
this Act.
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