Upward Mobility Act of 2026

Summary

Authorizes States and public housing agencies to pool or redirect certain federal antipoverty funding into pilot projects aimed at improving economic mobility, while excluding funds statutorily required to pass through to Indian tribes. Creates a new administrative role within HHS (acting through the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families) to receive transferred program functions and requires covered federal agencies to transfer proportional administrative funding to States running pilots. The Office of Management and Budget will decide which agency functions move to HHS, and the HHS official may reorganize staff, assets, and rules to carry out the transferred responsibilities during a transition period.

• Allows States and public housing agencies to combine certain federal antipoverty funds into pilot projects aimed at advancing upward mobility.
• Defines which federal funding streams count as "covered amounts," including SNAP, TANF, child care block grants, LIHEAP, certain WIOA funds, and some community development funds.
• Excludes funds that statute requires to be passed through to Indian tribes from consolidation authority.
• Transfers specified administrative functions from covered federal agencies to the HHS Administration for Children and Families, with OMB deciding which functions move.
• Requires covered agencies to transfer administrative-costs amounts to States running pilots, proportional to prior-year nonadministrative funding shares.
• Authorizes the HHS official to reorganize staff, transfer personnel and assets, issue implementing regulations, and limit transferred funds to original purposes.
• Adjusts administrative transfers for pilots of limited scope to reflect fewer transferred functions.
• Does not create explicit new appropriations or change tax law in the provided sections.
• Imposes detailed administrative and transition processes that will require OMB determinations and agency cooperation to implement.