Poverty Line Act of 2025

This bill seeks to update the calculation of the Federal poverty line (FPL) to better reflect the true costs of living. Its purpose is to incorporate more accurate costs of basic needs, keep pace with changing household spending norms, account for regional variations in the cost of living, and reflect minimum expenditures required for social and economic mobility. By doing so, the legislation aims to expand eligibility for and utilization of various federal assistance and benefits. The revised FPL calculation, to be published at least annually by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in coordination with the Bureau of the Census, will consider household sizes from 1 to 8 members. It will sum a 5-year rolling average of expenditures for food, clothing, telephone, and internet, adjusted for inflation, along with the cost of rental housing based on Fair Market Rents. Additionally, it includes child care costs, out-of-pocket health care expenses for various insurance types, and applies a county-level "other basic goods factor" for unlisted necessities like transportation. The Secretary must use State-level and county-level data to produce poverty line variants for each geographic area and provide a public lookup tool. States will have the flexibility to revise the poverty line up to 125 percent of the official line for community services block grant programs. The bill includes safe harbor provisions, ensuring that a participant's poverty line is not reduced for two years after a geographic move and that no State or county's poverty line falls below the inflation-adjusted pre-2025 level. Furthermore, the Office of Management and Budget must report on federal programs needing updates due to the new FPL, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services will evaluate the new poverty line's efficacy every four years. The Act and its amendments will take effect three years after enactment.