Adjustment of Census income inequality calculation

(a) New methodology (1) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, in consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies, as determined by the Director, shall implement a new methodology to measure poverty, in addition to the Official Poverty Measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure, that— (A) uses the methodology outlined in the report of the Congressional Budget Office titled Reconciling the Official Poverty Measure and CBO’s Distributional Analysis of Household Income; and (B) measures the income of an individual as the amount equal to— (i) the sum of earned income and government transfer payments received by the individual, less (ii) the taxes paid by the individual. (2) Resolution of potential conflict To the extent of any conflict between the requirements under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1), the requirement under such subparagraph (A) shall supersede the requirement under such subparagraph (B). (b) Agency data (1) Federal agencies Not later than 180 days after the head of a Federal agency receives a request from the Director for data possessed or reasonably obtainable by such Federal agency for carrying out this section, such head shall make available to the Director such data to the extent otherwise permitted by law. (2) State and local agencies The Director may request the head of a State or local agency that is an administering agency to provide such data as the Director determines necessary to carry out this section. (c) Publication of data (1) Data report Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Director implements the new methodology required under subsection (a), the Director shall submit to Congress a report detailing the implementation of this Act, including the availability and quality of data from the administering agencies from which the Director has requested information for carrying out this section. (2) Measurement report (A) In general Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Director implements the new methodology required under subsection (a), the Director shall submit to Congress a report detailing the implementation of this Act, including— (i) the recalculated measures of income inequality based on the new calculation methodology implemented under subsection (a); (ii) a comparison between the recalculated measures of income inequality and of household income dispersion based on the new calculation methodology implemented under subsection (a) and such measures based on the calculation methodologies in use for such measures on the day before the date on which such new calculation methodology was implemented; and (iii) a comparison between each statistic tracked by the Bureau of the Census based on the new calculation methodology implemented under subsection (a) and such statistic based on the calculation methodologies in use for such statistic on the day before the date on which such new calculation methodology was implemented. (B) Data sources (i) In general The Director shall use the best available data sources in creating the report required under subparagraph (A), including the use of surveys previously collected by the Bureau of the Census, data from other statistical agencies, data from private sources, and, in cases of missing or unknown data, statistical imputations. (ii) Survey augmentation In carrying out clause (i), the Director may augment surveys being carried out by the Bureau of the Census or the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor. (3) Statistics publication For all publications and data sets issued after the date on which the Director implements the new methodology required under subsection (a), the Director shall use such new calculation methodology to calculate each instance of each measure or statistic based on such methodology, including each historical instance. (d) Protection and disclosure of personally identifiable information (1) In general The security, disclosure, and confidentiality provisions set for in sections 9 and 23 of title 13, United States Code, shall apply to personally identifiable information obtained by the Bureau of the Census pursuant to this Act. (2) Restricted access to personally identifiable information Access to personally identifiable information collected to supplement the restricted-use Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements in accordance with subsection (b)(1) shall be available only to those who have access to the Current Population Survey data with the permission of the Bureau of the Census and in accordance with any other applicable provision of Federal and State law. (3) Criminal penalties Any individual who knowingly accesses or discloses personally identifiable information in violation of this section shall be fined not more than $300,000, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.