February 2, 2026
Mr. Kennedy introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
To require the Bureau of the Census, in measuring poverty, to incorporate the distributional analysis of household income used by the Congressional Budget Office, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Poverty Statistics Enhancement Act
.
Sec. 2. Definitions and special rules
In this Act:
(1) Administering agency
The term administering agency means a Federal, State, or local governmental agency responsible for assessing income, collecting revenue, administering a benefit, or collecting, compiling, and analyzing data related to income assessments, revenue collections, or benefits administration.
(2) Director
The term Director means the Director of the Bureau of the Census.
(3) Earned income
(A) In general
The term earned income means income paid to individuals from the following:
(i)
Earnings from employment or self-employment, including employment by a governmental entity to perform specific services, with continued employment conditional on successful delivery of those services.
(ii)
Interest.
(iii)
Dividends.
(iv)
Rents, royalties, and estates and trusts.
(v)
Realized capital gains.
(vi)
The monetary value of employer-paid benefits, including—
(I)
health insurance premiums;
(II)
the actuarial value of—
(aa)
employer-funded health insurance net of employee contributions;
(bb)
life insurance premiums;
(cc)
contributions to a health savings account (as defined in section 223(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986);
(dd)
contributions to a qualified cash or deferred arrangement (as defined in section 401(k)(2) of such Code);
(ee)
contributions to an individual retirement plan (as defined in section 7701(a)(37) of such Code); and
(ff)
employer contributions to a defined contribution retirement plan (as defined in section 414(i) of such Code);
(III)
benefits from a defined benefit retirement plan (as defined in section 414(j) of such Code) at the time the benefits are delivered;
(IV)
benefits provided to government employees tied specifically to their employment, including veterans benefits; and
(V)
other benefits paid by an employer during retirement, including pensions, healthcare coverage, and other benefits, counted at the time at which the benefit is received.
(vii)
In-kind compensation such as cost-free or reduced-cost lodging or meals, except for items required by the employer for performing work, such as uniforms or personal protective equipment.
(B) Special rules for earned income
(i) Adjustments generally
For purposes of subparagraph (A), all types of earned income shall be reconciled and adjusted to known, reliable independent benchmarks, including benchmarks produced by statistical agencies, programmatic agencies, the Internal Revenue Service, private sources, and such other sources as the Director determines appropriate.
(ii) Readjustments
In addition to adjusting earned income under clause (i), additional adjustments shall be made for missing and misreported data based on existing and future research by the Bureau of the Census, other government agencies, academic researchers, and other private research.
(4) Government transfer payments
(A) In general
The term government transfer payments means any money, goods, services, or discounts provided to individuals, families, or households by or at the direction of Federal Government or State, local, or other government sources, including agencies and agents thereof, or by private entities at the direction of any such source, that are not payments for services performed as an employee or that are not provided equally to all legal residents of the United States without any conditions related to income, assets, economic status, age, social condition, or any other restriction.
(B) Inclusions
The term government transfer payments includes the following:
(i)
Unemployment insurance compensation.
(ii)
Workers’ compensation.
(iii)
Benefits administered by the Social Security Administration, including—
(I)
old-age insurance benefits and disability insurance benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.); and
(II)
supplemental security income benefits under title XVI of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.).
(iv)
Benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231 et seq.).
(v)
Other disability benefits from government, except those provided to government employees as part of their employment compensation.
(vi)
Benefits provided under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.), including any income-related subsidy described in section 1860D–14 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–114), and any other reduction in premiums or cost sharing, such as deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance under such title.
(vii)
So much of the amount of any income tax refund paid to a taxpayer which is attributable to—
(I)
the earned income credit under section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
(II)
the child tax credit under section 24 of such Code; and
(III)
any other refundable credit under subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code.
(viii)
Assistance or benefits provided under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program established under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
(ix)
Medical assistance provided under the Medicaid program established under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.).
(x)
Child health assistance or pregnancy-related assistance provided under the State Children's Health Insurance Program established under title XXI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.).
(xi)
Benefits provided pursuant to an Indian health program (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603)).
(xii)
Premium tax credits under section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, cost-sharing reduction payments under section 1402 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18071), or any other payment that reduces the premium amount paid by the enrollee.
(xiii)
Any other government payments to assist in purchasing medical care or health insurance.
(xiv)
Benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program established under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).
(xv)
Free and reduced price meals provided under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) and section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).
(xvi)
Benefits and services provided under the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children established by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786).
(xvii)
Meals provided under the child and adult care food program established under section 17 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766).
(xviii)
Rental assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), including housing choice vouchers and project-based rental assistance.
(xix)
Assistance provided by the Rural Housing Service of the Department of Agriculture, including rental assistance.
(xx)
Assistance (including services) under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, established under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.).
(xxi)
A Federal Pell Grant under section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a).
(xxii)
So much of the American Opportunity Tax Credit under section 25A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as is allowed under subsection (i) thereof.
(xxiii)
Such other transfers by or at the direction of Federal Government or State, local, or other government sources that the Director determines to be consistent with subparagraph (A) using available data sources.
(5) Income tax data
The term income tax data means return information, as defined in section 6103(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 6103(b)(2)).
(6) Statistical agency
The term statisical agency means—
(A)
the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor;
(B)
the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce; and
(C)
any other Federal, State, or local government entity that collects, processes, or publishes data related to any of the components of income covered by this Act.
(7) Taxes
(A) In general
(i) General definition
The term taxes means all money revenues paid by individuals, families, or households to the Federal Government or a State, local, or other government either directly or indirectly through an employer or other entity based on their earnings from employment, savings, investing, real estate, trusts, or other sources or on the value, ownership, or usage of real estate property, personal property, other assets of any kind, or purchases of goods and services (including both real and financial).
(ii) Inclusions
The term taxes includes—
(I)
employment taxes under subtitle C of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (whether paid by the employer or employee);
(II)
income taxes, including taxes on investment income;
(III)
corporate income taxes allocated to shareholders based on best research on share of corporate taxes that reduce dividends;
(IV)
corporate income taxes allocated to employees based on best research on share of corporate taxes that reduce compensation;
(V)
self-employment income and payroll taxes;
(VI)
property taxes;
(VII)
capital gains taxes;
(VIII)
estate taxes;
(IX)
inheritance taxes;
(X)
gift taxes;
(XI)
sales taxes, use taxes, value added taxes, or any other fee collected by government on sales of any goods or any services (either real or financial) to households or individuals;
(XII)
excise taxes paid either separately or included as part of the price paid for a good or service;
(XIII)
tariffs and duties paid either directly or as part of the price paid for a good or service; and
(XIV)
such other sources of money revenues that the Director determines to be consistent with clause (i).
(B) Special rules for determining amounts of tax
(i) In general
For purposes of subparagraph (A), totals of taxes shall be reconciled and adjusted to sum to total tax and other revenue income available from other reliable sources, including the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of the Treasury, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
(ii) Treatment of tax credits
With respect to any taxpayer:
(I)
The amount of taxes paid shall be determined without regard to any refund paid to the taxpayer which is attributable to any refundable credit under subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(II)
The amount of any refund paid to the taxpayer which is attributable to any such refundable credit shall be treated as a government transfer payment in accordance with paragraph (3).
Sec. 3. Adjustment of Census income inequality calculation
(a) New methodology
(1) In general
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, in consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies, as determined by the Director, shall implement a new methodology to measure poverty, in addition to the Official Poverty Measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure, that—
(A)
uses the methodology outlined in the report of the Congressional Budget Office titled Reconciling the Official Poverty Measure and CBO’s Distributional Analysis of Household Income
; and
(B)
measures the income of an individual as the amount equal to—
(i)
the sum of earned income and government transfer payments received by the individual, less
(ii)
the taxes paid by the individual.
(2) Resolution of potential conflict
To the extent of any conflict between the requirements under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1), the requirement under such subparagraph (A) shall supersede the requirement under such subparagraph (B).
(b) Agency data
(1) Federal agencies
Not later than 180 days after the head of a Federal agency receives a request from the Director for data possessed or reasonably obtainable by such Federal agency for carrying out this section, such head shall make available to the Director such data to the extent otherwise permitted by law.
(2) State and local agencies
The Director may request the head of a State or local agency that is an administering agency to provide such data as the Director determines necessary to carry out this section.
(c) Publication of data
(1) Data report
Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Director implements the new methodology required under subsection (a), the Director shall submit to Congress a report detailing the implementation of this Act, including the availability and quality of data from the administering agencies from which the Director has requested information for carrying out this section.
(2) Measurement report
(A) In general
Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Director implements the new methodology required under subsection (a), the Director shall submit to Congress a report detailing the implementation of this Act, including—
(i)
the recalculated measures of income inequality based on the new calculation methodology implemented under subsection (a);
(ii)
a comparison between the recalculated measures of income inequality and of household income dispersion based on the new calculation methodology implemented under subsection (a) and such measures based on the calculation methodologies in use for such measures on the day before the date on which such new calculation methodology was implemented; and
(iii)
a comparison between each statistic tracked by the Bureau of the Census based on the new calculation methodology implemented under subsection (a) and such statistic based on the calculation methodologies in use for such statistic on the day before the date on which such new calculation methodology was implemented.
(B) Data sources
(i) In general
The Director shall use the best available data sources in creating the report required under subparagraph (A), including the use of surveys previously collected by the Bureau of the Census, data from other statistical agencies, data from private sources, and, in cases of missing or unknown data, statistical imputations.
(ii) Survey augmentation
In carrying out clause (i), the Director may augment surveys being carried out by the Bureau of the Census or the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.
(3) Statistics publication
For all publications and data sets issued after the date on which the Director implements the new methodology required under subsection (a), the Director shall use such new calculation methodology to calculate each instance of each measure or statistic based on such methodology, including each historical instance.
(d) Protection and disclosure of personally identifiable information
(1) In general
The security, disclosure, and confidentiality provisions set for in sections 9 and 23 of title 13, United States Code, shall apply to personally identifiable information obtained by the Bureau of the Census pursuant to this Act.
(2) Restricted access to personally identifiable information
Access to personally identifiable information collected to supplement the restricted-use Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements in accordance with subsection (b)(1) shall be available only to those who have access to the Current Population Survey data with the permission of the Bureau of the Census and in accordance with any other applicable provision of Federal and State law.
(3) Criminal penalties
Any individual who knowingly accesses or discloses personally identifiable information in violation of this section shall be fined not more than $300,000, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.