HR6949-119

What This Bill Does

The Upward Mobility Act of 2026 creates a large antipoverty-program consolidation pilot. HHS, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, may allow up to five States to run five-year pilot projects funded by Upward Mobility Grants. The grants consolidate covered federal amounts from SNAP administration and benefits, TANF State family assistance grants, child care programs, LIHEAP programs, dislocated-worker assistance, community development funding, housing vouchers, public housing capital and operating funds, and rural housing assistance, while excluding amounts directed to Indian Tribes. States may seek full or limited-scope pilots. Grant amounts are based on prior-year covered funding, adjusted by the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, and paid quarterly. Approved States can receive waivers to consolidate, replace, or alter eligibility requirements, program design, delivery, and funding use, but not civil rights, health and safety, labor standards, environmental protections, religious freedom, appropriations restrictions, maintenance of effort, or requirements to distribute funds to sub-State entities. Applications must explain eligibility criteria, data privacy, fraud prevention, auditable records, work requirement enforcement, local nonprofit and faith-based engagement, independent evaluation, benefit-cliff reduction, marginal effective tax rate measures, employment outcomes, poverty reduction, marriage penalty reduction, and use of savings. A savings provision transfers administrative funding and selected federal agency functions to the Administration for Children and Families, preserves pending proceedings, and lets HHS issue rules and delegate transferred functions.

Who Benefits and How

States selected for pilots benefit from flexible consolidated grants and waiver authority over multiple antipoverty programs. Low-income families in pilot States could benefit if States reduce benefit cliffs, coordinate housing, nutrition, child care, energy assistance, and employment services, and improve earnings outcomes. Local service providers can receive roles in customized case management. HHS and ACF benefit from centralized authority to test cross-program antipoverty models and evaluate results.

Who Bears the Burden and How

SNAP recipients, TANF families, child care subsidy recipients, LIHEAP households, housing voucher users, public housing residents, dislocated workers, and rural housing recipients face risk if a State redesigns eligibility, benefit structures, or service delivery. State pilot administrators must build privacy controls, fraud prevention, auditable records, work-requirement enforcement, independent evaluation contracts, and benchmark reporting. Federal agencies that currently run covered programs must transfer administrative funding, functions, personnel, assets, records, and proceedings as OMB and HHS direct. Federal taxpayers fund the grants and oversight.

Key Provisions

• Establishes up to five five-year State Upward Mobility Grant pilot projects.
• Consolidates covered federal funding from SNAP, TANF, child care, LIHEAP, workforce, community development, public housing, housing voucher, and rural housing programs.
• Authorizes waivers for eligibility rules, program design, delivery, and funding use while preserving civil rights, health, safety, labor, environmental, religious-freedom, appropriations, and maintenance-of-effort protections.
• Requires State applications to address benefit cliffs, marginal effective tax rates, employment outcomes, poverty reduction, data privacy, fraud prevention, work requirements, local service delivery, and independent evaluation.
• Transfers selected federal antipoverty functions and administrative funding to the Administration for Children and Families for pilot implementation.