H.R. 702 — Improving Federal Assistance to Families Act

This section directs the Bureau of the Census to develop and annually publish a new state-specific poverty line index, known as the Regionally Adjusted Poverty Line. The index revises the most recent poverty line for each state by (1) creating new poverty thresholds through multiplying the state's existing thresholds by its most recent Regional Price Parity (i.e., a Bureau of Economic Analysis measure of relative state price levels, national average=100) divided by 100; and (2) recalculating poverty rates as the percentage of households below those new thresholds.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to (1) annually determine for each state which poverty line index—the Regionally Adjusted Poverty Line or the current poverty line—results in the higher state poverty rate; (2) publish that index in the Federal Register for use in lieu of the current poverty line; and (3) require its use for administrative purposes in each state, including financial eligibility determinations for certain federal programs (i.e., those relying on the poverty line, such as SNAP and Medicaid), except that for Premium Tax Credits under the Affordable Care Act, either index may be used to ensure low-income households in non-Medicaid expansion states retain access to such credits.

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to submit to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, not later than two years after enactment of this Act, a report analyzing the ALICE threshold (i.e., Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed measure of household financial hardship above the federal poverty line). The report must assess (1) advantages and disadvantages of the ALICE threshold relative to the federal poverty line, including additional information it provides to policymakers; (2) areas for improvement in measuring household material need; (3) ways the federal government can assist in developing and publishing the threshold; and (4) potential incorporation of the threshold into financial eligibility criteria for federal programs, including those set by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and by Congress.

This section establishes definitions for terms used in the Act, including (1) “ALICE threshold” as the Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed measure developed by the United Way of Northern New Jersey (i.e., an alternative to the poverty line that measures regional minimum costs of necessities such as housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and taxes); (2) “poverty line” as defined in section 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)); (3) “poverty threshold” as the dollar amounts used by the Bureau of the Census to determine a household’s poverty status; (4) “Regional Price Parity” as the difference in price levels between a state and the national average, expressed as a percentage of the national price level, as published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis; and (5) “State” as 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.