Poverty Line Act of 2025
Key claim: The Poverty Line Act of 2025 would require HHS to calculate regional federal poverty guidelines based on household expenditures, housing costs, and health insurance costs rather than the current CPI-adjusted Census threshold methodology.
Abstract
(HR1428 · 119th Congress) Poverty Line Act of 2025 This bill revises the methodology used to calculate the federal poverty guidelines. The federal poverty guidelines are used to determine eligibility for many federal and state public assistance programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the National School Lunch Program. The poverty guidelines are currently calculated by adjusting the Census Bureau’s poverty thresholds to account for changes in the Consumer Price Index. The bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to calculate regional poverty guidelines based on a combination of factors including average household expenditures on food, clothing, utilities, and transportation; the average cost of rental housing; and the average cost of health insurance. These factors must be calculated using regional data as applicable. HHS must make available to the public a tool for determining the poverty guideline applicable to a given household. The new regional poverty guidelines established by HHS may not be lower than existing, corresponding poverty guidelines as of the date of enactment of the bill. HHS must review and evaluate the poverty guidelines at least every four years and propose changes to this methodology as appropriate. The bill takes effect three years after its enactment. Latest action (2025-02-18): Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Why this matters
Federal poverty guidelines are the gatekeeper for eligibility across USDA nutrition programs (SNAP, WIC, school meals, Summer EBT, TEFAP, CACFP) as well as broader safety-net programs. Shifting from a national CPI-adjusted threshold to regional guidelines based on housing, health insurance, and household expenditures would restructure who qualifies for food assistance, likely expanding rolls in high-cost metropolitan areas and tightening them in lower-cost regions. The change would ripple through farm and food policy by altering demand for federally-subsidized nutrition benefits and reshaping administrative burdens on USDA and state SNAP agencies.