Sec. 31406. Reports to Congress and the public
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The Chair of the Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty shall submit an annual report to the appropriate congressional committees describing the activities, ongoing projects, and plans of the Federal Government designed to meet the goals and objectives of the National Strategy on Poverty. The report shall include an accounting of the savings to the Government from any increased efficiencies in the delivery of services, any savings from reducing the numbers of Americans living in poverty and reductions in the demand for need-based services and benefits for which persons living in and near poverty are eligible, as well as an accounting of any increase in revenue collections due to the numbers of persons who become gainfully employed and pay taxes into the Treasury instead of drawing benefits and services from it.
Within 90 days after funds are made available to carry out this subtitle, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall contract with the National Academy of Sciences (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the NAS ) to initiate a workshop series to provide necessary background information to enable the Working Group on Reducing Poverty to develop and finalize its plan. The NAS shall convene a steering committee to organize, plan, and conduct a public workshop on what is known about the economic and social costs of poverty, including, but not limited to the following:
Macroeconomic costs (effects on productivity and economic output). Health costs (effects on health expenditures and health status). Crime and other social costs. Direct Federal budget effects (e.g., outlays for income support and other poverty reduction programs). Natural disaster related risks and costs. The workshop shall also consider poverty metrics (e.g., income poverty, food insecurity, and other measures of deprivation), and their role in assessing the effects of poverty and the performance of anti-poverty programs.
The NAS shall commission experts to prepare papers that summarize and critique the relevant literature estimating monetary and non-monetary economic and social impacts of poverty. A workshop summary shall be produced that, along with the papers, shall be available electronically on the NAS website. This workshop shall be convened within 6 months of receipt of a contract, the papers posted immediately, and the summary released by the end of month. The NAS steering committee shall organize, plan, and conduct a second public workshop on what is known about the economic and social costs and benefits of a variety of programs and strategies to reduce and prevent poverty.
It shall take account of such issues as the following: Short-term versus long-term effects, including budget implications. Effects for different population groups, such as children, the elderly, immigrants, long-term single-parent families, displaced older workers, young people with large loans, people in areas of concentrated poverty and other social ills (e.g., Indian reservations, some inner city areas, some rural areas). Effects by depth of poverty and near-poverty (e.g., income to poverty ratios of less than 50 percent, less than 100 percent, less than 200 percent).
This second workshop shall be convened within 9 months of receipt of a contract, the papers posted immediately, and a summary released by the end of month 12. The relevant sections of the report shall be posted on each agency’s website on the plans and impacts specific to their agency. A version of each report submitted under this section shall be made available to the public. The Working Group on Reducing Poverty shall submit, as necessary, legislative language, including specific legislative recommendations to the Congress of the United States towards achieving the national goals.