Bill Text: CA AJR22 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Federal poverty level measurement.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-2)
Status: (Passed) 2015-09-21 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 195, Statutes of 2015. [AJR22 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AJR22-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AJR 22 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 195
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 21, 2015
ADOPTED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Mullin
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez, Dodd, Cristina Garcia,
Gonzalez, Gordon, and Mark Stone)
(Coauthors: Senators Hall, Leno, and Vidak)
JUNE 9, 2015
Relative to the federal poverty level measurement.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 22, Mullin. Federal poverty level measurement.
This measure would urge the federal government to take steps to
reform the outdated and inadequate Official Poverty Measure to better
reflect poverty and the unmet needs demonstrated by the Supplemental
Poverty Measure.
WHEREAS, The Official Poverty Measure is determined by the United
States Census Bureau and is instrumental in determining an individual'
s eligibility for a number of government programs, including the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; Medicaid; School Lunch
Program; Women, Infants, and Children Program; Housing Assistance;
and others; and
WHEREAS, The method we use today was developed in 1964 by Mollie
Orshansky of the Social Security Administration; and
WHEREAS, Orshansky's method used before-tax cash income to
determine a family's resources, which was then compared to a poverty
threshold; and
WHEREAS, In determining this poverty threshold, Orshansky used a
food plan developed by the federal Department of Agriculture that was
designed for "temporary or emergency use when funds are low," and
then multiplied the cost of the plan by three because, at the time, a
family typically used about a third of their income on food; and
WHEREAS, Other than minor changes, the method has remained the
same over time, despite significant economic and governmental
changes, including the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid, the
shift from a manufacturing to a service economy, welfare reform of
the 1990s, and the general stagnation of wages; and
WHEREAS, The Official Poverty Measure is a one-size-fits-all
policy that leads to a distorted perception of poverty and an
inefficient allocation of resources to fight poverty; and
WHEREAS, The Official Poverty Measure has failed to accurately
measure poverty because it has not kept up with the changes to our
economy and social science research; and
WHEREAS, The Official Poverty Measure does not take into account
that families no longer spend one-third of their income on food; they
currently spend between 5 to 10 percent; and
WHEREAS, The Official Poverty Measure does not account for noncash
transfers, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or
Medicaid, as income; and
WHEREAS, The Official Poverty Measure does not account for
variations in cost of living in different regions of our country; and
WHEREAS, Low-income working families in California are especially
disadvantaged by the Official Poverty Measure due to our state's high
cost of living, which results in the denial of federally funded
assistance to families living above the federal poverty line, but who
are unable to meet their basic needs; and
WHEREAS, The Official Poverty Measure does not account for the
increase in child care expenses due to the rise in the workforce
participation of both parents; and
WHEREAS, The Official Poverty Measure does not account for
variations in health care coverage and out-of-pocket medical costs;
and
WHEREAS, Historically, there has been widespread agreement among
analysts, advocates, and policymakers that the Official Poverty
Measure is inadequate, leading to a 1990 Congressional appropriation
that was made for an independent scientific study on a new
calculation method; and
WHEREAS, This study was performed by The National Academy of
Sciences, which established the Panel on Poverty and Family
Assistance. The panel released a report in 1995 entitled "Measuring
Poverty: A New Approach," which established guidelines for creating a
new method; and
WHEREAS, Fifteen years later, in 2010, the Interagency Technical
Working Group on Developing a Supplemental Poverty Measure and the
Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor developed an alternative
poverty measure known as the Supplemental Poverty Measure; and
WHEREAS, The Supplemental Poverty Measure was designed to take
into account changes in the United States economy over time,
cost-of-living variations in different parts of the country, and the
changing role of government; and
WHEREAS, The Supplemental Poverty Measure more accurately measures
poverty by using a basic set of goods that includes food, clothing,
shelter, and utilities, adjusted to reflect the needs of different
family types and to account for geographic differences in living
costs to establish what is known as a poverty threshold; and
WHEREAS, The Supplemental Poverty Measure defines family resources
as the value of cash income from all sources, plus the value of
noncash benefits, including nutrition assistance, subsidized housing,
home energy assistance, tax credits, and other benefits that are
available to buy the basic bundle of goods, minus the necessary
expenses for critical goods and services not included in the
thresholds; and
WHEREAS, Necessary expenses include income taxes, Social Security
payroll taxes, childcare and other work-related expenses, child
support payments, and contributions toward the cost of medical care
and health insurance premiums or out-of-pocket medical costs; and
WHEREAS, The Supplemental Poverty Measure offers a more accurate
measure of poverty than the general Official Poverty Measure; and
WHEREAS, The use of the Official Poverty Measure can have a
detrimental effect on policies to combat poverty because it results
in less efficient and less accurately targeted policies and
expenditures; and
WHEREAS, It is vital that we implement a fair poverty measure that
allows us to efficiently allocate resources and focus on regions and
populations that need help the most; and
WHEREAS, Given the numerous inadequacies of the Official Poverty
Measure as a tool to accurately target and efficiently allocate
antipoverty resources, the Supplemental Poverty Measure should guide
the reform and updating of the Official Poverty Measure for
administrative purposes in determining financial eligibility for
programs intended to reduce poverty; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature of California urges the
President and the Congress of the United States to take steps to
reform the outdated and inadequate Official Poverty Measure to better
reflect poverty and the unmet needs demonstrated by the Supplemental
Poverty Measure; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, to the
Governor of California, and to the author of this resolution.
