# 119-s-3756: Poverty Statistics Enhancement Act

119-s-3756, Poverty Statistics Enhancement Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA); status introduced (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3756
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-3756
- Congress: 119
- Title: Poverty Statistics Enhancement Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-02-02
- Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, John [R-LA] (R-LA)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Change how poverty is measured.** This bill would require the Bureau of the Census to add a Congressional Budget Office style distributional analysis of household income and adopt a new, broader income calculation for official poverty estimates. - Households and families: It expands what counts as income to include wages, self-employment, interest, dividends, rents, realized capital gains, employer-paid benefits, some in-kind lodging and meals, and more. This shifts which resources are counted when identifying who is in poverty. - People who receive benefits: The bill defines government transfer payments widely and lists many programs and refundable tax credits to be treated as transfers, including SNAP, Medicaid, CHIP, Medicare subsidies, refundable credits such as the earned income tax credit and child tax credit, housing assistance, Pell Grants, WIC, and school meal programs. - Data agencies and tax data users: It requires using IRS return information and statistical agency benchmarks, reconciling totals of taxes and transfers, and making adjustments for missing or misreported data under specified rules.

## Provisions PRIA read

- New poverty measure and data rules: mixed, high. If enacted, the Census Bureau would add a new national poverty measure using the Congressional Budget Office approach within one year. The new measure would count income as earnings plus government transfers minus taxes, and it would treat refunds from refundable tax credits as government transfers…

## Related bills

- 119-s-688: Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests Act of 2025
- 119-s-4952: Protecting American Taxpayers Act
- 119-s-4378: Protecting American Taxpayers Act
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-4065: STAND with Taiwan Act of 2026
- 119-s-3492: Essential Caregivers Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-3756 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3756)

## Related
- [119-s-688: Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvests Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-688)
- [119-s-4952: Protecting American Taxpayers Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4952)
- [119-s-4378: Protecting American Taxpayers Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4378)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-4065: STAND with Taiwan Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4065)
- [119-s-3492: Essential Caregivers Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3492)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3756 (as of 2026-04-21).