Bipartisan Persistent Poverty Bill Introduced in Congress
Mary Scott Balys
On February 1, the bipartisan Targeting Resources to Communities in Need Act of 2022 was introduced in both the House and Senate. The bill, sponsored by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), Representative Jim Clyburn (D-SC), and Representative Hal Rogers (R-KY), seeks to target federal investment into high poverty communities.
The bill builds on Representative Clyburn’s previous work on the 10-20-30 formula, which dedicates at least 10 percent of a funding source to communities with 20 percent or higher poverty levels for the last 30 years. This formula has been in use in various government programs, such as the CDFI Fund Financial Assistance awards and several Rural Development programs in recent years.
The Targeting Resources to Communities in Need Act directs the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to work with every federal program to find a way to increase the share of funds going to persistent poverty counties, high poverty census tracts, and other persistent poverty areas in a way that makes sense for that program. It also directs OMB to produce a standardized list of persistent poverty counties and high poverty census tracts as well as a report on their impact and measures they take to target resources.
Together, these actions will help drive federal resources deeper into persistent poverty communities, bringing more economic opportunity to their residents.