[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3537 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3537

 To provide an increased allocation of funding under certain programs 
 for assistance in persistent poverty counties, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            October 2 (legislative day, September 28), 2018

  Mr. Booker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide an increased allocation of funding under certain programs 
 for assistance in persistent poverty counties, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as ``An Act Targeting Resources to 
Communities in Need''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Development program.--The term ``development program'' 
        means any of the following programs, offices, or appropriations 
        accounts:
                    (A) Any program administered by the Office of Rural 
                Development of the Department of Agriculture.
                    (B) The Appalachian Regional Commission.
                    (C) Department of Commerce, Economic Development 
                Administration, Economic Development Assistance 
                Programs.
                    (D) The Delta Regional Authority.
                    (E) The Denali Commission.
                    (F) Any training or employment services program 
                administered by the Employment and Training 
                Administration of the Department of Labor.
                    (G) Department of Health and Human Services, Health 
                Resources and Services Administration.
                    (H) Environmental Protection Agency, State and 
                Tribal Assistance Grants.
                    (I) Department of Commerce, National Institute of 
                Standards and Technology, Construction.
                    (J) Department of Justice, Office of Justice 
                Programs.
                    (K) Department of Transportation, Office of the 
                Secretary, Nationally Significant Freight and Highway 
                Projects.
                    (L) Department of Transportation, Office of the 
                Secretary, National Infrastructure Investments.
                    (M) Department of Transportation, Federal Transit 
                Administration, Bus & Bus Facilities Infrastructure 
                Investment Program.
                    (N) Department of Transportation, Federal Transit 
                Administration, Capital Investment Grants Program.
                    (O) Any program of the Department of the Treasury 
                relating to Community Development Financial 
                Institutions (within the meaning of section 103 of the 
                Community Development Banking and Financial 
                Institutions Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702)).
            (2) Persistent poverty county.--The term ``persistent 
        poverty county'' means any county with a poverty rate of at 
        least 20 percent, as determined in each of the 1990 and 2000 
        decennial censuses, and in the Bureau of the Census's Small 
        Area Income and Poverty Estimates for the most recent year for 
        which the estimates are available.
            (3) High-poverty area.--The term ``high-poverty area'' 
        means a census tract with a poverty rate of at least 20 percent 
        during the 3 years most recently ending before the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. 10-20-30 FORMULA FOR PERSISTENT POVERTY COUNTIES.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the entity responsible 
for administering a development program shall use not less than 10 
percent of the amounts made available in any appropriations Act for the 
program for any of fiscal years 2019 through 2028, in persistent 
poverty counties, if the entity is otherwise authorized to do so.

SEC. 4. TARGETING HIGH-POVERTY CENSUS TRACTS.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
entity responsible for administering a development program shall use 
not less than the amount described in subsection (b) of the amounts 
made available in any appropriations Act for the program for any of 
fiscal years 2019 through 2028, for projects in high-poverty areas, if 
the entity is otherwise authorized to do so.
    (b) Amount Described.--The amount described in this subsection with 
respect to a program is an amount equal to the sum of--
            (1) the average percentage of Federal assistance awarded 
        under the program in the 3 fiscal years most recently ending 
        before the date of the enactment of this Act that were used for 
        projects in high-poverty areas; plus
            (2) 5 percent of the average total Federal loan and grant 
        funds awarded under the program in the 3 fiscal years referred 
        to in paragraph (1).
    (c) Report to Congress.--If an entity responsible for administering 
a development program determines that the provision of benefits under 
the program in a particular census tract actually benefits individuals 
predominantly living in other census tracts, then the entity shall, 
within 3 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, inform the 
Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Congress that 
it would be more appropriate to track the provision of benefits under 
the program based on the census tracts in which the individuals who 
actually receive the benefits reside and on whether the benefits serve 
individuals who reside in predominantly low-income census tracts.

SEC. 5. FAILURE TO USE FUNDS.

    If the entity responsible for administering a development program 
does not comply with section 4 with respect to the program for a fiscal 
year, the entity shall submit to the Congress a report that describes 
how the entity plans to do so in the next fiscal year.

SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Within 6 months after the end of fiscal year 2019 and within 6 
months after the end of each fiscal year thereafter, the entity 
responsible for administering each development program shall submit to 
the Congress a progress report on the implementation of this Act with 
respect to the development program.
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