Pennsylvania 2025 2025-2026 Regular Session

Pennsylvania Senate Bill SB152 Introduced / Bill

                     
PRINTER'S NO. 99 
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL 
No.152 
Session of 
2025 
INTRODUCED BY HUGHES, HAYWOOD, STREET, COLLETT, KEARNEY, 
SCHWANK, SAVAL, COSTA, TARTAGLIONE AND KANE, JANUARY 22, 2025 
REFERRED TO HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, JANUARY 22, 2025 
AN ACT
Providing for the study of intergenerational poverty; 
establishing the Intergenerational Poverty Tracking System, 
the Interagency Workgroup on Poverty and Economic Insecurity 
and the Pennsylvania Commission on Poverty Elimination and 
Economic Security; providing for a strategic plan and for 
reports; and imposing duties on the Department of Human 
Services and the Secretary of the Budget.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1.  Preliminary Provisions
Section 101.  Short title.
Section 102.  Definitions.
Chapter 3.  Intergenerational Poverty
Section 301.  Intergenerational Poverty Tracking System.
Section 302.  Interagency Workgroup on Poverty and Economic 
Insecurity.
Section 303.  Powers and duties.
Section 304.  Report.
Chapter 5.  Poverty Elimination and Economic Security Strategic 
Planning
Section 501.  The Pennsylvania Commission on Poverty Elimination 
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20 and Economic Security.
Section 502.  Strategic plan to address poverty and economic 
insecurity.
Section 503.  Commission reports.
Section 504.  Duties of Secretary of the Budget.
Chapter 7.  Miscellaneous Provisions
Section 701.  (Reserved).
Section 702.  (Reserved).
Section 703.  Effective date.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 
hereby enacts as follows:
CHAPTER 1
PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS
Section 101.  Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the 
Intergenerational Poverty Act.
Section 102.  Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall 
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the 
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Antipoverty program."  A program with the primary goal of 
lifting individuals out of poverty and improving economic 
opportunities for individuals that operates, in whole or in 
part, utilizing Federal or State money.
"Asset poverty."  The inability of an individual to access 
wealth resources sufficient to provide for basic needs for a 
period of three months.
"Child."  An individual who is under 18 years of age.
"Commission."  The Pennsylvania Commission on Poverty 
Elimination and Economic Security established under section 
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30 501(a).
"Commonwealth poverty measure."  A uniform method for 
measuring poverty in this Commonwealth that considers indicators 
and measures, other than traditional income-based measures of 
poverty, that provide a detailed picture of low-income and 
poverty populations and meaningfully account for other factors 
contributing to poverty, and may include:
(1)  access to health care, housing, proper nutrition and 
quality education;
(2)  the number of individuals kept out of poverty by 
government supports;
(3)  the number of individuals who are impoverished due 
to medical expenses, child-care expenses or work expenses;
(4)  the rates of food insecurity;
(5)  the number of individuals in asset poverty;
(6)  the number of disconnected youth;
(7)  the teen birth rate;
(8)  the participation rate in Federal and State 
antipoverty programs for all eligible populations;
(9)  the number of individuals who do not use a bank or 
similar financial institution;
(10)  regional differences in costs of living;
(11)  income necessary to achieve economic security and a 
livable standard of living in different regions of this 
Commonwealth;
(12)  the impact of rising income inequality;
(13)  the impact of the digital divide; and
(14)  the impact of trauma on intergenerational poverty.
"Cycle of poverty."  The set of factors or events by which 
the long-term poverty of an individual is likely to continue and 
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30 be experienced by each child of the individual when the child 
becomes an adult unless there is outside intervention.
"Deep poverty."  An economic condition where an individual or 
family has a total annual income that is less than 50% of the 
Federal poverty level for the individual or family as provided 
in the annual report of the United States Census Bureau on 
Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United 
States.
"Department."  The Department of Human Services of the 
Commonwealth.
"Deprivation."  A lack of adequate nutrition, health care, 
housing or other resources to provide for basic needs.
"Digital divide."  The gap between individuals, households, 
businesses and geographic areas at different socioeconomic 
levels related to access to information and communication 
technologies, including the imbalance in physical access to 
technology and the resources, education and skills needed to 
effectively use computer technology and the Internet for a wide 
variety of activities.
"Disconnected youth."  Individuals who are 16 years of age to 
25 years of age who are unemployed and not enrolled in school.
"Economic insecurity."  The inability to cope with routine 
adverse or costly life events and recover from the costly 
consequences of those events and the lack of economic means to 
maintain an adequate standard of living.
"Economic security."  Having access to the economic means and 
support necessary to effectively cope with adverse or costly 
life events and recover from the consequences of such events 
while maintaining an adequate standard of living.
"Intergenerational poverty."  Poverty in which two or more 
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30 successive generations of a family continue in the cycle of 
poverty and government dependence. The term does not include 
situational poverty.
"Outcome."  A change in the economic status, economic 
instability or economic security of an individual, household or 
other population that is attributable to a planned intervention, 
benefit, service or series of interventions, benefits and 
services, regardless of whether the intervention, benefit or 
service was intended to change the economic status, economic 
stability or economic security.
"Poverty."  An economic condition in which an individual or 
family has a total annual income that is less than the Federal 
poverty level for the individual or family, as provided in the 
report of the United States Census Bureau on Income, Poverty and 
Health Insurance Coverage in the United States.
"Situational poverty."  Temporary poverty that meets all of 
the following:
(1)  Is generally traceable to a specific incident or 
time period within the lifetime of an individual.
(2)  Is not continued to the next generation.
"Strategic plan."  The plan under section 502.
"System."  The Intergenerational Poverty Tracking System 
established under section 301(a).
"Two-generation approach."  An approach to breaking the cycle 
of intergenerational poverty by improving family economic 
security through programs that create opportunities for and 
address the needs of parents and children together.
"Workgroup."  The Interagency Workgroup on Poverty and 
Economic Insecurity established under section 302.
CHAPTER 3
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30 INTERGENERATIONAL POVERTY
Section 301.  Intergenerational Poverty Tracking System.
(a)  Establishment.--The department shall establish and 
maintain a data system to track intergenerational poverty, which 
shall be known as the Intergenerational Poverty Tracking System.
(b)  System requirements.--The system shall have the ability 
to do all of the following:
(1)  Identify groups that have a high risk of 
experiencing intergenerational poverty.
(2)  Identify incidents, patterns and trends that explain 
or contribute to intergenerational poverty.
(3)  Gather and track available local, State and national 
data on all of the following:
(i)  Official poverty rates.
(ii)  Child poverty rates.
(iii)  Years spent by an individual in childhood 
poverty.
(iv)  Years spent by an individual in adult poverty.
(v)  Related poverty information.
(c)  Duties of department.--The department shall do all of 
the following:
(1)  Use available data in the system, including public 
assistance data, census data and other data made available to 
the department, to track intergenerational poverty.
(2)  Develop and implement methods to integrate, compare, 
analyze and validate the data for the purposes described 
under subsection (b).
(3)  Protect the privacy of an individual living in 
poverty by using and distributing data within the system in 
compliance with Federal and State laws.
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30 (4)  Include in the report required under section 304, a 
summary of the data, findings and potential additional uses 
of the system.
Section 302.  Interagency Workgroup on Poverty and Economic 
Insecurity.
(a)  Establishment.--The Interagency Workgroup on Poverty and 
Economic Insecurity is established.
(b)  Membership.--The workgroup shall be comprised of the 
following members:
(1)  The Secretary of Human Services, or a designee who 
is a deputy secretary or the equivalent within the 
department, who shall serve as chair.
(2)  The Secretary of Labor and Industry, or a designee 
who is a deputy secretary or the equivalent within the 
Department of Labor and Industry .
(3)  The Secretary of Education, or a designee who is a 
deputy secretary or the equivalent within the Department of 
Education.
(4)  The Secretary of Health, or a designee who is a 
deputy secretary or the equivalent within the Department of 
Health.
(5)  The Secretary of Community and Economic Development, 
or a designee who is a deputy secretary or the equivalent 
within the Department of Community and Economic Development.
(6)  The Secretary of Aging, or a designee who shall be a 
deputy secretary or the equivalent within the Department of 
Aging.
(7)  The Secretary of Corrections, or a designee who 
shall be a deputy secretary or the equivalent within the 
Department of Corrections.
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30 (8)  The Secretary of Agriculture, or a designee who 
shall be a deputy secretary or the equivalent within the 
Department of Agriculture.
(9)  The Secretary of the Budget or a designee.
(c)  Meetings.--The workgroup shall meet no less than four 
times a year.
Section 303.  Powers and duties.
The workgroup shall have the following powers and duties:
(1)  To collaborate in sharing and analyzing information 
and data for all of the following purposes:
(i)  Understanding the root causes of poverty and 
economic insecurity, including contributing social, 
economic and cultural factors.
(ii)  Understanding and addressing intergenerational 
poverty by:
(A)  Identifying children who are at risk of 
continuing in the cycle of poverty absent 
intervention.
(B)  Identifying and developing effective and 
efficient plans, programs and recommendations to help 
at-risk children in this Commonwealth escape the 
cycle of poverty.
(C)  Implementing data-driven policies and 
programs, to the extent authorized by law, addressing 
poverty, public assistance, education, economic 
development, criminal justice and other areas as 
needed to measurably reduce the incidence of children 
in this Commonwealth who remain in poverty as they 
become adults.
(D)  Establishing and facilitating improved 
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among all persons, from Commonwealth agencies to 
caseworkers, in rescuing children from 
intergenerational poverty.
(E)  Studying and measuring the effect of 
intergenerational poverty on the ability of parents 
and children to achieve economic stability, including 
the effect on educational attainment, rates of 
incarceration, lifetime earnings, access to 
healthcare and access to housing.
(F)  Studying, evaluating and reporting on the 
status and effectiveness of policies, procedures and 
programs that provide services to children in this 
Commonwealth affected by intergenerational poverty.
(G)  Studying and evaluating the policies, 
procedures and programs implemented by other states 
and nongovernmental entities that address the needs 
of children affected by intergenerational poverty.
(H)  Identifying Commonwealth policies, 
procedures and programs or Federal requirements that 
are impeding efforts to help children in this 
Commonwealth affected by intergenerational poverty 
escape the cycle of poverty.
(I)  Developing and implementing programs and 
policies that use the two-generation approach.
(iii)  Studying and measuring the effect that poverty 
and economic insecurity have on all of the following:
(A)  Worker productivity and economic output.
(B)  The health and welfare of children, 
including access to health care, housing, proper 
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30 nutrition and quality education.
(iv)  Identifying Commonwealth programs, including 
those related to economic development, job creation, job 
training, the environment, disaster relief, hazard 
mitigation, extreme weather and climate change, in need 
of reform to better target resources to low-income, 
minority, rural, urban and other populations or 
geographic areas suffering from economic insecurity and 
disparate rates of poverty.
(v)  Measuring the fiscal impact on the Commonwealth 
from successfully transitioning individuals and families 
from poverty to long-term economic stability. Fiscal 
impact measurements may include all of the following:
(A)  Reductions in long-term costs of social 
safety net programs.
(B)  Reductions in long-term health care costs by 
improving health of households formerly facing 
economic insecurity or poverty.
(C)  Increases in State and local revenues 
attributable to new taxpaying individuals as a result 
of increased employment and disposable income.
(D)  Reductions in enrollment and costs in need-
based benefits and services programs.
(E)  Improvements to the overall economy of this 
Commonwealth and reduced financial pressures on the 
State and local governments.
(2)  To establish an ongoing system of data sharing, 
policy coordination and communication among and within 
Commonwealth agencies, local agencies and other organizations 
related to programs aimed at improving economic security and 
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30 eliminating poverty.
(3)  To identify knowledge gaps, research needs and 
policy and program deficiencies associated with economic 
insecurity and poverty.
(4)  To assist the commission in the development of the 
strategic plan, including sharing data and information 
identified under paragraphs (1) and (3) and analyses of that 
data and information.
(5)  To implement the strategic plan adopted by the 
commission, including all of the following:
(i)  Coordinating implementation of the strategic 
plan.
(ii)  Advising and assisting relevant agencies in the 
implementation of the strategic plan.
(iii)  Advising relevant agencies on specific 
programmatic and policy matters related to the strategic 
plan.
(iv)  Providing relevant subject matter expertise to 
each agency for purposes of implementing the strategic 
plan.
(v)  Identifying and addressing issues that may 
influence the future of the strategic plan.
Section 304.  Report.
(a)  Report.--No later than September 1 of each year, the 
workgroup shall issue a report that includes the following:
(1)  A summary of actions taken and outcomes obtained by 
the workgroup in fulfilling its duties under section 303.
(2)  Progress made on reducing poverty and economic 
insecurity in this Commonwealth, including policies or 
procedures implemented to reduce or eliminate the cycle of 
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30 poverty and intergenerational poverty as a result of the data 
collected by the workgroup.
(3)  Relevant data assessing the scope and depth of 
intergenerational poverty in this Commonwealth.
(4)  A 20-year history of poverty rates in this 
Commonwealth with a focus on any reduction or increase in the 
rates during the previous 10 years and since the inception of 
the workgroup.
(5)  Any recommendations for legislative or regulatory 
action to adopt or repeal laws, policies or procedures to 
further the goal of eliminating poverty and economic 
insecurity in this Commonwealth.
(b)  Distribution.--The workgroup shall distribute the report 
under subsection (a) as follows:
(1)  To the Governor.
(2)  To each member of the General Assembly.
(3)  By prominently posting the report on the publicly 
accessible Internet website of all Commonwealth departments 
and agencies.
CHAPTER 5
POVERTY ELIMINATION AND
ECONOMIC SECURITY STRATEGIC PLANNING
Section 501.  The Pennsylvania Commission on Poverty Elimination 
and Economic Security.
(a)  Establishment.--The Pennsylvania Commission on Poverty 
Elimination and Economic Security is established.
(b)  Purpose.--The purpose of the commission is to:
(1)  Inform the public policymaking process by:
(i)  Improving policymakers' understanding of the 
root causes of poverty and economic insecurity, including 
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30 contributing social, economic and cultural factors and 
the reasons that poverty and economic insecurity persist 
in this Commonwealth.
(ii)  Expanding policymakers' understanding of 
poverty by distinguishing a standard that measures a 
level of freedom from deprivation from a standard that 
measures economic security provided by a living wage and 
access to a livable standard of living.
(iii)  Educating policymakers on the impact poverty 
has on other measures of economic stability and economic 
outcomes, including educational attainment, rates of 
incarceration, lifetime earnings, access to health care, 
health care outcomes and access to housing.
(2)  Support governmental efforts to ensure that 
residents of this Commonwealth have equal opportunity to 
achieve economic security.
(3)  Reduce and ultimately eliminate poverty in this 
Commonwealth by making policy and other recommendations to 
the legislative, executive and judicial branches of this 
Commonwealth.
(c)  Membership.--The commission shall be comprised of the 
following members:
(1)  Four members of the General Assembly, one each 
appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate, the 
Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the Minority Leader of the House of 
Representatives.
(2)  A member of the judiciary or a designee who shall be 
appointed by the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme 
Court.
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30 (3)  Twenty members of the public appointed under 
subsection (d) representing stakeholders as follows:
(i)  Two representatives, one of whom shall represent 
an organization that focuses on rural poverty and one of 
whom shall represent an organization that focuses on 
urban and suburban poverty.
(ii)  Two individuals who have experienced deep 
poverty.
(iii)  One representative of an organization that 
advocates for health care access, affordability and 
availability.
(iv)  One representative of an organization that 
advocates for individuals with mental illness.
(v)  One representative of an organization that 
advocates for children and youth.
(vi)  One representative of an organization that 
advocates for equity and equality in education.
(vii)  One representative of an organization that 
advocates for individuals who are homeless.
(viii)  One representative of a Statewide antihunger 
organization.
(ix)  One representative of an organization that 
advocates for military veterans.
(x)  One representative of an organization that 
advocates for individuals with disabilities.
(xi)  One representative of an organization that 
advocates for immigrants.
(xii)  One representative of a Statewide faith-based 
organization that provides direct social services in this 
Commonwealth.
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30 (xiii)  One representative of an organization that 
advocates for economic security for women.
(xiv)  One representative of an organization that 
advocates for older adults.
(xv)  One representative of a labor organization that 
represents primarily low-wage and middle-wage earners.
(xvi)  One representative of school districts in this 
Commonwealth.
(xvii)  One representative of county governments in 
this Commonwealth.
(xviii)  One representative of municipal corporation 
governments in this Commonwealth.
(4)  The members of the workgroup shall serve as 
nonvoting ex officio members of the commission.
(d)  Appointment.--
(1)  The public members of the commission under 
subsection (c)(3) shall be appointed as follows:
(i)  Four shall be appointed by the Governor.
(ii)  Four shall be appointed by the President pro 
tempore of the Senate.
(iii)  Four shall be appointed by the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives.
(iv)  Four shall be appointed by the Minority Leader 
of the Senate.
(v)  Four shall be appointed by the Minority Leader 
of the House of Representatives.
(2)  It shall be determined by lot which appointing 
authority appoints which public members to the commission.
(3)  The appointed members shall reflect the racial, 
gender and geographic diversity of this Commonwealth and 
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30 shall include representation from regions of this 
Commonwealth experiencing economic insecurity and the highest 
rates of deep poverty.
(4)  Public members of the commission shall be selected 
for service on the commission within 45 days of the effective 
date of this paragraph.
(e)  Qualifications.--Each member of the commission must have 
been a resident of this Commonwealth for a period of at least 
one year immediately preceding appointment and must continue 
residence in this Commonwealth during the member's tenure of 
service on the commission.
(f)  Organizational meeting.--The organizational meeting of 
the commission shall take place after all members are appointed 
but no later than 60 days after the effective date of this 
subsection.
(g)  Compensation.--Members shall serve without compensation, 
but public members may be reimbursed for reasonable and 
necessary travel expenses connected to commission business.
(h)  Commission chairperson.--The representatives of the 
antipoverty organizations appointed under subsection (c)(3)(i) 
shall serve as cochairs of the commission.
(i)  Committees.--The commission may establish subcommittees 
to address specific issues or populations and may collaborate 
with individuals with relevant expertise who are not members of 
the commission to assist the subcommittee in carrying out its 
duties.
(j)  Meetings.--The full commission shall meet at least once 
annually.
(k)  Quorum.--A majority plus one of the voting members shall 
constitute a quorum.
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30 (l)  Voting.--All actions of the commission and any 
subcommittees established by the commission shall be approved by 
majority vote of the commission or subcommittee as applicable.
(m)  Open meetings.--The meetings of the commission shall be 
conducted in accordance with the provisions of 65 Pa.C.S. Ch. 7 
(relating to open meetings).
(n)  Administrative support.--The department shall provide 
staff and administrative support to assist the commission in 
carrying out its duties.
Section 502.  Strategic plan to address poverty and economic 
insecurity.
(a)  Plan required.--No later than November 30, 2026, the 
commission shall develop and adopt a strategic plan to address 
poverty and economic insecurity in this Commonwealth.
(b)  Goals.--The goals of the strategic plan shall be to:
(1)  Ensure that Commonwealth programs and services 
targeting poverty and economic insecurity reflect the goal of 
helping individuals and families rise above poverty and 
achieve long-term economic stability rather than simply 
providing relief from deprivation.
(2)  Eliminate disparate rates of poverty, deep poverty, 
child poverty and intergenerational poverty based on race, 
ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation or identity, 
English language proficiency, ability and geographic location 
in a rural, urban or suburban area.
(3)  Reduce deep poverty in this Commonwealth by 50% by 
2032.
(4)  Eliminate child poverty in this Commonwealth by 
2037.
(5)  Eliminate all poverty in this Commonwealth by 2042.
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30 (c)  Plan development.--In developing the strategic plan, the 
commission shall:
(1)  Collaborate with the workgroup, including sharing 
data and information identified under section 303(1) and (3) 
and analyses of that data and information.
(2)  Review each program and service provided by the 
Commonwealth that targets poverty and economic insecurity for 
purposes of:
(i)  determining which programs and services are the 
most effective and of the highest importance in reducing 
poverty and economic insecurity in this Commonwealth; and
(ii)  providing an analysis of unmet needs, if any, 
among individuals, children and families in deep poverty 
and intergenerational poverty for each program and 
service identified under subparagraph (i).
(3)  Study the feasibility of using public/private 
partnerships and social impact bonds to improve innovation 
and cost-effectiveness in the development of programs and 
delivery of services that advance the goals of the strategic 
plan.
(4)  Hold at least six public hearings in different 
geographic regions of this Commonwealth, including areas that 
have disparate rates of poverty and that have historically 
experienced economic insecurity, to collect information, take 
testimony and solicit input and feedback from interested 
parties, including members of the public who have personal 
experiences with Commonwealth programs and services targeting 
economic insecurity, poverty, deep poverty, child poverty and 
intergenerational poverty, and make the information publicly 
available.
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30 (5)  Request and receive from a Commonwealth agency or 
local government agency information relating to poverty in 
this Commonwealth, including all of the following:
(i)  Reports.
(ii)  Audits.
(iii)  Data.
(iv)  Projections.
(v)  Statistics.
(d)  Subject areas.--The strategic plan shall address all of 
the following:
(1)  Access to safe and affordable housing.
(2)  Access to adequate food and nutrition.
(3)  Access to affordable and quality health care.
(4)  Equal access to quality education and training.
(5)  Equal access to affordable, quality postsecondary 
education options.
(6)  Dependable and affordable transportation.
(7)  Access to quality and affordable child care.
(8)  Opportunities to engage in meaningful and 
sustainable work that pays a living wage and barriers to 
those opportunities experienced by individuals living in 
poverty.
(9)  Equal access to justice through a fair system of 
criminal justice that does not, in effect, criminalize 
poverty.
(10)  Availability of adequate income supports.
(11)  Retirement security.
(e)  Plan content.--The strategic plan shall, at a minimum, 
contain policy and fiscal recommendations relating to all of the 
following:
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30 (1)  Developing fact-based measures to evaluate the long-
term effectiveness of existing and proposed programs and 
services targeting poverty and economic insecurity.
(2)  Increasing enrollment in programs and services 
targeting poverty and economic insecurity by reducing the 
complexity and difficulty of enrollment in order to maximize 
program effectiveness and increase positive outcomes.
(3)  Increasing the reach of programs and services 
targeting poverty and economic insecurity by ensuring that 
Commonwealth agencies have adequate resources to maximize the 
public awareness of the programs and services, especially in 
historically disenfranchised communities.
(4)  Reducing the negative impacts of asset limits for 
eligibility on the effectiveness of Commonwealth programs 
targeting poverty and economic insecurity by ensuring that 
eligibility limits do not:
(i)  create gaps in necessary service and benefit 
delivery or restrict access to benefits as individuals 
and families attempt to transition off assistance 
programs; or
(ii)  prevent beneficiaries from improving long-term 
outcomes and achieving long-term economic independence 
from the program.
(5)  Improving the ability of community-based 
organizations to participate in the development and 
implementation of Commonwealth programs designed to address 
economic insecurity and poverty.
(6)  Improving the ability of individuals living in 
poverty, low-income individuals and unemployed individuals to 
access critical job training and skills upgrade programs and 
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30 to find quality jobs that help children and families become 
economically secure and rise above poverty.
(7)  Improving communication and collaboration between 
Commonwealth agencies and local governments on programs 
targeting poverty and economic insecurity.
(8)  Creating efficiencies in the administration and 
coordination of programs and services targeting poverty and 
economic insecurity.
(9)  Connecting low-income children, disconnected youth 
and families of those children and youth to education, job 
training and jobs in the communities in which those children 
and youth live.
(10)  Ensuring that the Commonwealth's services and 
benefits programs, emergency programs, discretionary economic 
programs and other policies are sufficiently funded to enable 
the Commonwealth to mount effective responses to economic 
downturns and increases in economic insecurity and poverty 
rates.
(11)  Creating one or more Commonwealth poverty measures.
(12)  Developing and implementing programs and policies 
that use the two-generation approach.
(13)  Using public/private partnerships and social impact 
bonds to improve innovation and cost-effectiveness in the 
development of programs and delivery of services that advance 
the goals of the strategic plan.
(14)  Identifying best practices for collecting data 
relevant to all of the following:
(i)  Reducing economic insecurity and poverty.
(ii)  Reducing the racial, ethnic, age, gender, 
sexual orientation and sexual identity-based disparities 
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30 in the rates of economic insecurity and poverty.
(iii)  Adequately measuring the effectiveness, 
efficiency and impact of programs on the outcomes for 
individuals, families and communities who receive 
benefits and services.
(iv)  Streamlining enrollment and eligibility for 
programs.
(v)  Improving long-term outcomes for individuals who 
are enrolled in service and benefit programs.
(vi)  Reducing reliance on public programs.
(vii)  Improving connections to work.
(viii)  Improving economic security.
(ix)  Improving retirement security.
(x)  Improving the Commonwealth's understanding of 
the impact of extreme weather and natural disasters on 
economically vulnerable communities and improving those 
communities' resilience to and recovery from extreme 
weather and natural disasters.
(xi)  Improving access to living-wage employment.
(xii)  Improving access to employment-based benefits.
(f)  Other information.--In addition to the plan content 
required under subsection (e), the strategic plan shall contain 
all of the following:
(1)  A suggested timeline for the stages of 
implementation of the recommendations in the plan.
(2)  Short-term, intermediate-term and long-term 
benchmarks to measure the Commonwealth's progress toward 
meeting the goals of the strategic plan.
(3)  A summary of the review and analysis conducted by 
the commission under subsection (c)(1).
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30 (g)  Impact of recommendations.--For each recommendation in 
the plan, the commission shall identify in measurable terms the 
actual or potential impact that the recommendation will have on 
poverty and economic insecurity in this Commonwealth.
Section 503.  Commission reports.
(a)  Interim report.--No later than June 30, 2026, the 
commission shall issue an interim report on the commission's 
activities to the Governor and the General Assembly.
(b)  Report on strategic plan.--Upon the commission's 
adoption of the strategic plan, but no later than November 30, 
2027, the commission shall issue a report containing a summary 
of the commission's activities and the contents of the strategic 
plan. The commission shall submit the report to the Governor and 
each member of the General Assembly.
(c)  Annual reports.--Beginning November 30, 2028, and each 
year thereafter, the commission shall issue a report on the 
status of the implementation of the commission's strategic plan. 
The report may contain any other recommendations of the 
commission to address poverty and economic insecurity in this 
Commonwealth.
Section 504.  Duties of Secretary of the Budget.
The Secretary of the Budget shall include in the materials 
submitted to the General Assembly outlining the Governor's 
proposed annual budget a description of any budget proposals or 
other activities, ongoing projects and plans of the executive 
branch designed to meet the goals and objectives of the 
strategic plan. The information shall include the following:
(1)  An accounting of the savings to the Commonwealth 
from any increased efficiencies in the delivery of services.
(2)  Any savings realized from reducing the number of 
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30 individuals living in poverty and reducing the demand for 
need-based services and benefits.
(3)  A projection of any increase in revenue collections 
due to any increase in the number of individuals who become 
employed and pay taxes into the State Treasury.
(4)  Any other information related to the proposed annual 
budget that the Secretary of the Budget believes furthers the 
goals and objectives of the strategic plan.
CHAPTER 7
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Section 701.  (Reserved).
Section 702.  (Reserved).
Section 703.  Effective date.
This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.
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