April 17, 2025
Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Whitesides, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr. Suozzi, Ms. Norton, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Deluzio, and Mr. Garcia of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure, Oversight and Government Reform, and Agriculture, 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
To establish a national task force to expand opportunities and improve the standard of living for working families in America.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Working Families Task Force Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Interagency task force
(a) Establishment
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Treasury, Transportation, and Agriculture and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, shall establish an Interagency National Task Force on Working Families. The task force shall be titled the Working Families Task Force
and for purposes of this Act be referred to as the Task Force
.
(b) Membership
The Task Force shall be composed of not fewer than 10 members and shall include representatives designated by the relevant Secretaries from each of the following Federal agencies:
(1)
The Department of Labor.
(2)
The Department of Health and Human Services.
(3)
The Department of Education.
(4)
The Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(5)
The Department of Commerce.
(6)
The Department of Treasury.
(7)
The Department of Transportation.
(8)
The Department of Agriculture.
(9)
The Small Business Administration.
(c) Meetings
(1) In general
The Task Force shall meet not less than 1 time per quarter per calendar year.
(2) Quorum
Two-thirds of the members of the Task Force shall constitute a quorum.
(d) Purpose
The purpose of the Task Force shall be to—
(1)
examine the challenges facing working families; and
(2)
develop recommendations to improve the standard of living and quality of life for working families.
(e) Duties
The duties of the Task Force shall include the following:
(1)
Identifying and evaluating key factors that impact the standard of living for working families, including—
(A)
addressing affordability challenges related to various economic conditions, including inflation;
(B)
reducing barriers to economic mobility;
(C)
improving access to quality jobs with livable wages and strong labor standards;
(D)
expanding affordable child care for all families;
(E)
improving incentives, including tax policies such as the child tax credit, child and dependent care tax credit, and earned income tax credit, that assist children and families;
(F)
supporting home care and medical care for seniors and families that need assistance;
(G)
mitigating barriers to more affordable and higher quality health care and services;
(H)
obtaining and building quality, affordable housing;
(I)
expanding educational and workforce training opportunities;
(J)
increasing financial literacy and access to financial services;
(K)
accessing affordable and nutritious food;
(L)
reducing gaps in access to technology and the internet that impact educational and employment opportunities and health services;
(M)
reducing environmental hazards and creating a healthier environment;
(N)
accessing affordable and renewable energy sources;
(O)
accessing affordable, reliant, and efficient transportation systems; and
(P)
addressing the impacts of staffing and funding cuts at Federal agencies.
(2)
Assessing or developing a methodology to assess how various macroeconomic conditions (which may include unemployment, inflation, gross domestic product, and monetary policy) affect quality of life and affordability for working families.
(3)
Assessing the effectiveness of current Federal policies and programs in helping working families achieve an improved standard of living.
(4)
Developing legislative and regulatory policy recommendations to enhance the efforts of Federal agencies and Congress to empower working families to meet the challenges of current economic conditions, raise their standards of living, and access the benefits of economic growth.
(5)
The Task Force shall consult with a wide-ranging group of external stakeholders and public experts in order to develop the recommendations referred to in paragraph (4).
(f) Report
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Task Force shall—
(1)
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on its most recent findings and recommendations, which shall include a list of stakeholders and public experts with which the Task Force consulted and the meeting minutes for each meeting of the Task Force; and
(2)
make such report publicly available on the website of the Task Force.
(g) Appropriate congressional committees defined
In this section, the term appropriate congressional committees means the following:
(1)
The Committee on Education and Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
(2)
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
(3)
The Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
(4)
The Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.
(5)
The Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate.