S. 3583 — Upward Mobility Act of 2026

This section defines terms—including "covered amount" for specified federal antipoverty funding streams (i.e., SNAP administration and benefits; TANF grants; child care funding; LIHEAP programs; WIOA dislocated worker assistance; CDBG activities; Section 8 tenant-based rental assistance; public housing capital and operating funds; and Section 521 rural housing assistance, excluding amounts directed to Indian tribes)—"direct assistance benefits" (i.e., nutrition, cash, child care, energy, employment/training, and housing subsidies), "Marginal Effective Tax Rate," and "per-capita direct assistance"—for a new pilot program. The section states the purposes of the pilot program as streamlining service delivery and reducing benefit cliffs and eligibility inconsistencies; promoting employment, earnings, skills, housing affordability, nutrition access, energy cost reduction, child care affordability, and temporary assistance via Upward Mobility Grants; and incentivizing states to reduce per-capita direct assistance dependence. The section establishes the pilot program, under which the Secretary of Health and Human Services may permit up to five states to carry out such projects and consolidate covered amounts.

This section establishes definitions and transfer authorities for antipoverty program functions (including parts of functions) from covered federal agencies (i.e., agencies administering antipoverty programs) to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), as determined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to support state pilot projects under this Act. It (1) directs agency heads to transfer pro rata administrative funding to each participating state based on the state's share of prior-year nonadministrative program costs (with adjustments for appropriation lapses and limited-scope pilots); (2) authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (acting through the ACF Assistant Secretary) to delegate, reorganize, and prescribe rules for transferred functions; (3) transfers related personnel, assets, liabilities, contracts, records, and unexpended balances (subject to 31 U.S.C. 1531, which governs intragency and interagency appropriation transfers) for original purposes only; and (4) includes savings provisions preserving existing legal documents, proceedings, and applications in effect or pending as of enactment.