The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law has released its annual Poverty Scorecard for the year 2012.  The Poverty Scorecard grades every Member of Congress on his or her voting record in fighting poverty.  This marks the sixth year that the Shriver Center has published its Poverty Scorecard.

“For the second straight year, Congress has made very few efforts to alleviate poverty in the United States,” said John Bouman, President of the Shriver Center.  “This is a clear indication that the interests of 46 million Americans living under the poverty line are going unrecognized in our current political landscape.”  As of 2012, forty-six million Americans are currently living in poverty, the equivalent of a 4-person household income of $23,050, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In addition to showing Congress’ neglect on the issue, the Poverty Scorecard also shows that when it comes to poverty, as with other topic areas, there are very few moderates in Congress.  Based on 2012 voting records, 95 percent of Senators and 92 percent of Representatives received an A+ or A grade or a D, F, or F- grade. 

In some instances, the Poverty Scorecard found an apparent and somewhat surprising inverse correlation between a state’s poverty levels and the voting record of its Congressional delegation.  Members with poor records in voting to fight poverty tended to come from states with higher levels of poverty whereas members with good records tended to come from states with lower levels of poverty.

The Poverty Scorecard evaluates the votes by Members of Congress on matters that would have had a strong impact upon the level of poverty in the United States.  Unfortunately, the only legislation of significance in fighting poverty that passed both Houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Obama in 2012 were H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, and H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.  Many other pieces of legislation that would have had a significant impact in fighting poverty failed to survive the legislative process. 

“Congress made few strides in reducing poverty last year,” said Dan Lesser, Director of Economic Justice at the Shriver Center. “It’s our hope that by sharing these grades and holding lawmakers accountable, the Shriver Center will help to spark a legislative environment that has low-income families’ best interests in mind.”

For more information, starting on Thursday, April 18, 2013, the complete 2012 Poverty Scorecard can be found online at http://povertylaw.org/povertyscorecard2012.  

Specific information regarding Pennsylvania may be viewed at http://povertylaw.org/sites/default/files/webfiles/pennsylvania.pdf.

Follow the Shriver Center on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/shrivercenter for more updates related to the findings released in the Scorecard.