taken together they moved the proposed new poverty line closer to of median income the exact figure would depend on how the proposals were implemented following the nas report the united states census bureau began tentative experiments with a new poverty measure that incorporated some of the recommendations though not the allowance for regional variations in the cost of living add to this the fact that the official poverty line is the responsibility of the executive office of the president and it is evident that any redrawing of the line is going to be a highprofile issue subject to intense institutional and political pressures