[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2949 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2949
To establish a national task force to expand opportunities and improve
the standard of living for working families in America.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 17, 2025
Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Whitesides, Mr. Goldman of New York, Mr.
Suozzi, Ms. Norton, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Deluzio, and Mr. Garcia of
California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committees
on Financial Services, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce,
Transportation and Infrastructure, Oversight and Government Reform, and
Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a national task force to expand opportunities and improve
the standard of living for working families in America.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Working Families Task Force Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the
Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Education, Housing and Urban
Development, Commerce, Treasury, Transportation, and Agriculture and
the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, shall establish
an Interagency National Task Force on Working Families. The task force
shall be titled the ``Working Families Task Force'' and for purposes of
this Act be referred to as the ``Task Force''.
(b) Membership.--The Task Force shall be composed of not fewer than
10 members and shall include representatives designated by the relevant
Secretaries from each of the following Federal agencies:
(1) The Department of Labor.
(2) The Department of Health and Human Services.
(3) The Department of Education.
(4) The Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(5) The Department of Commerce.
(6) The Department of Treasury.
(7) The Department of Transportation.
(8) The Department of Agriculture.
(9) The Small Business Administration.
(c) Meetings.--
(1) In general.--The Task Force shall meet not less than 1
time per quarter per calendar year.
(2) Quorum.--Two-thirds of the members of the Task Force
shall constitute a quorum.
(d) Purpose.--The purpose of the Task Force shall be to--
(1) examine the challenges facing working families; and
(2) develop recommendations to improve the standard of
living and quality of life for working families.
(e) Duties.--The duties of the Task Force shall include the
following:
(1) Identifying and evaluating key factors that impact the
standard of living for working families, including--
(A) addressing affordability challenges related to
various economic conditions, including inflation;
(B) reducing barriers to economic mobility;
(C) improving access to quality jobs with livable
wages and strong labor standards;
(D) expanding affordable child care for all
families;
(E) improving incentives, including tax policies
such as the child tax credit, child and dependent care
tax credit, and earned income tax credit, that assist
children and families;
(F) supporting home care and medical care for
seniors and families that need assistance;
(G) mitigating barriers to more affordable and
higher quality health care and services;
(H) obtaining and building quality, affordable
housing;
(I) expanding educational and workforce training
opportunities;
(J) increasing financial literacy and access to
financial services;
(K) accessing affordable and nutritious food;
(L) reducing gaps in access to technology and the
internet that impact educational and employment
opportunities and health services;
(M) reducing environmental hazards and creating a
healthier environment;
(N) accessing affordable and renewable energy
sources;
(O) accessing affordable, reliant, and efficient
transportation systems; and
(P) addressing the impacts of staffing and funding
cuts at Federal agencies.
(2) Assessing or developing a methodology to assess how
various macroeconomic conditions (which may include
unemployment, inflation, gross domestic product, and monetary
policy) affect quality of life and affordability for working
families.
(3) Assessing the effectiveness of current Federal policies
and programs in helping working families achieve an improved
standard of living.
(4) Developing legislative and regulatory policy
recommendations to enhance the efforts of Federal agencies and
Congress to empower working families to meet the challenges of
current economic conditions, raise their standards of living,
and access the benefits of economic growth.
(5) The Task Force shall consult with a wide-ranging group
of external stakeholders and public experts in order to develop
the recommendations referred to in paragraph (4).
(f) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Task Force shall--
(1) submit to the appropriate congressional committees a
report on its most recent findings and recommendations, which
shall include a list of stakeholders and public experts with
which the Task Force consulted and the meeting minutes for each
meeting of the Task Force; and
(2) make such report publicly available on the website of
the Task Force.
(g) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section,
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the following:
(1) The Committee on Education and Workforce of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
(2) The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate.
(3) The Committee on Financial Services of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
(4) The Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate.
(5) The Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition,
and Forestry of the Senate.
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