Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the Poverty Statistics Enhancement Act (S. 3756) to require the U.S. Census Bureau to incorporate the distributional analysis of household income used by the Congressional Budget Office in measuring poverty.
The Act would require implementation of a new methodology to measure poverty within one year of the Act’s enactment, in consultation with relevant agencies. It would supplement the Official Poverty Measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure, by considering earned income, government transfer payments, and taxes paid by individuals. The bill includes new definitions and rules.
Sen. Kennedy discussed this concept during a February 10, 2026 subcommittee hearing, and discussed the legislation in a National Review article the next day, noting that, “If you include the non-cash benefits and cash payments (from the person’s earnings and from the federal government), the actual percentage of Americans with incomes at or below the poverty line is only 1 percent.”
S. 3756 has no cosponsors and awaits action in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Poverty Statistics Enhancement Act – S. 3756
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the Poverty Statistics Enhancement Act (S. 3756) to require the U.S. Census Bureau to incorporate the distributional analysis of household income used by the Congressional Budget Office in measuring poverty.
The Act would require implementation of a new methodology to measure poverty within one year of the Act’s enactment, in consultation with relevant agencies. It would supplement the Official Poverty Measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure, by considering earned income, government transfer payments, and taxes paid by individuals. The bill includes new definitions and rules.
Sen. Kennedy discussed this concept during a February 10, 2026 subcommittee hearing, and discussed the legislation in a National Review article the next day, noting that, “If you include the non-cash benefits and cash payments (from the person’s earnings and from the federal government), the actual percentage of Americans with incomes at or below the poverty line is only 1 percent.”
S. 3756 has no cosponsors and awaits action in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Our Insights
Authors: Bethanne Barnes, Maya A. Bernstein, Amy O’Hara, Beth Jarosz
04/22/2026
Our Insights
With Census Day 2030 just four years away today, a
04/01/2026
Our Insights
To assist the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in
03/27/2026
View all Related