Sponsors (3)
Introduced January 6, 2026 by Jon Husted · Last progress January 6, 2026
The bill offers participating States tools, funding, and evaluation authority to test consolidated antipoverty approaches that could simplify access and reduce poverty for low-income families, but it concentrates authority, risks reducing federal protections for participants, limits direct reach to few States, and may produce administrative and local disruptions.
Low-income individuals and families in participating States gain consolidated, more flexible benefit packages and integrated access to nutrition, child care, energy, and housing supports, aimed at reducing benefit cliffs and encouraging work and earnings.
Participating State governments receive predictable, multi-year funding (quarterly grants with PCE inflation adjustments and administrative funds proportional to prior-year program funding) and implementation support, helping them manage pilots and reduce fiscal/administrative risk.
Emergency contingency funds for SNAP, TANF, and LIHEAP remain available to protect participants during economic downturns or disasters, preserving a basic safety net during crises.
People enrolled in full-state pilots could lose access to standard federal program protections and entitlements, and waiver authority could allow States to narrow eligibility or impose stricter requirements, reducing civil rights and safety-net protections for vulnerable participants (including people with disabilities).
Because the program limits participation to a small number of States (up to five), most low-income Americans will not directly benefit and pilot results may not generalize to other States.
States could use financial savings from consolidation for non-direct-assistance purposes, which could reduce benefit levels for some households instead of increasing supports.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a five-year federal pilot that lets up to five States combine multiple federal anti-poverty funding streams into single state-controlled “Upward Mobility Grants” so States can redesign benefits to reduce benefit cliffs, lower marginal effective tax rates, and increase employment and earnings. The measure sets grant formulas (based on prior-year covered funding adjusted for inflation), provides regulatory waivers (with specific prohibitions), requires independent, rigorous evaluation and annual reporting, and moves certain administrative functions and staff oversight into the HHS Administration for Children and Families to support implementation and transitions.