Sponsor
Mike Lee
Senator · R-UT
Senator · R-UT
The bill produces more accurate, standardized poverty measurement and better data governance to inform policy while increasing cross-agency data sharing and reporting burdens that raise privacy risks and impose administrative and federal costs.
Low-income individuals and families will see poverty statistics that account for cash and noncash Federal benefits, producing a more accurate measure of economic need.
Researchers and policymakers will get standardized, richer data and an expert Commission will create transparent methods for valuing noncash benefits, improving consistency and usefulness of poverty measurement for policy decisions.
Individuals covered by the data collection (especially low-income people and taxpayers) gain stronger confidentiality protections and higher criminal penalties for unlawful disclosure of personally identifiable information.
Taxpayers and low-income people face increased privacy risks because the bill requires sharing of tax-return and program data across agencies, which could expose sensitive financial information if there is a breach despite enhanced penalties.
State governments must compile and report detailed personally identifiable and benefits/payment data annually, creating additional administrative burden and implementation costs for states.
Reported poverty rates may change because of new valuation and threshold methods, which could shift public perception and fuel eligibility debates even though the bill does not itself change program eligibility rules.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Tightens SNAP eligibility and work rules, revises poverty/resource definitions used in CPS, adds State matching requirements, and mandates a five-year E&T outcome report to Congress.
Official title: Help individuals receiving assistance under the supplemental nutrition assistance program in obtaining self-sufficiency, to provide information on total spending on means-tested welfare programs, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 27, 2025 by Mike Lee · Last progress March 27, 2025
Changes to SNAP and poverty measurement that narrow who qualifies for nutrition assistance and revise how federal benefits and household resources are counted. The bill revises survey income definitions used for poverty measurement, tightens SNAP work and eligibility rules (including narrower definitions of food, new minimum-wage rule language, limits on exceptions, county-level work-area limits, caps on combined spouse work hours, and new state matching requirements), and requires a detailed federal report on State Employment & Training (E&T) outcomes within one year.