Pathways Out of Poverty Act of 2017
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Nutrition.
Pathways Out of Poverty Act of 2017
This bill establishes and expands various programs related to education, housing, employment, and social welfare.
The Department of Education must award grants to states for the development and implementation of prekindergarten programs.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention within the Department of Justice may award grants to assist communities in addressing juvenile delinquency and gang prevention.
The bill expands:
the Pell Grant program,
the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, and
the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs.
With respect to housing, the bill:
phases out the federal mortgage-interest income-tax deduction, replacing it with a new mortgage-interest income-tax credit;
expands the federal low-income housing income-tax credit;
expands certain affordable-housing programs; and
establishes a federal income-tax credit for low-income renters.
With respect to employment, the bill:
expands unemployment compensation benefits;
establishes several new employment-related programs to be carried out by the Department of Labor;
establishes a tax credit for employers that hire long-term unemployed individuals;
establishes prohibitions on employment discrimination based on an individual's status as unemployed;
increases the federal minimum wage, incrementally over a period of seven years, to $15.00 per hour.
In addition, the bill:
expands the federal earned-income tax credit,
makes refundable a federal income-tax credit for dependent care expenses,
and expands eligibility for certain child-care benefits.
The bill also establishes:
within the Congressional Budget Office, a Poverty Impact Division; and
within the Department of Health and Human Services, a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Poverty.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on October 16, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on October 26, 2017: Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
BARBARA LEE (D-CA) introduced it on October 16, 2017, and 25 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 25 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on October 16, 2017, 3251 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3241 days ago, on October 26, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers