S.Amdt. 6242

SA 6242, submitted by Mr. Kennedy, aims to change how the government calculates income inequality and measures poverty. It proposes adding a new section to bill S. 4784 that requires the Director of the Bureau of the Census to create and use a new methodology for these measurements.

The amendment intends to add the following to the bill:

• A New Poverty Measure: The Director must implement a new way to measure poverty (in addition to the Official Poverty Measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure). This new method will be based on a Congressional Budget Office report and will calculate an individual's income as the sum of their earned income and government transfer payments, minus taxes paid.

• Expanded Definitions: It provides detailed definitions for what counts as:

  • Earned Income: Including employment earnings, interest, dividends, rents, realized capital gains, and the monetary value of employer-paid benefits (like health insurance and retirement contributions).
  • Government Transfer Payments: Including Social Security, unemployment insurance, SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid, and various tax credits.
  • Taxes: Including income, payroll, property, sales, excise, and estate taxes.

• Data Collection and Reporting: It requires federal agencies to provide necessary data to the Director and mandates that the Director submit reports to Congress. These reports must detail the new recalculated measures of income inequality and compare them to the old methods.

• Implementation and Privacy: The new methodology must be used for all future publications and historical data sets. The amendment also sets strict privacy rules for personally identifiable information, with criminal penalties (fines up to $300,000 or 5 years in prison) for unauthorized disclosure.