One of many bills the D.C. Council voted on this week will take a new look at poverty in the District.

The council unanimously approved a bill creating a Commission on Poverty on Tuesday.

The bill, first introduced in January 2019 by Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, would create a 19-person commission. The goal is to “study issues related to poverty, evaluate poverty reduction initiatives, and make policy recommendations to the Mayor and the Council based upon said research and evaluation.”

This time around, it was introduced by At-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman.“We need a dedicated body to study the issue and make recommendations to the mayor and council to really move the needle,” Silverman said. “I also think the commission’s recommendations on pending legislation and proposed budgets will be very valuable.

A little over 13% of D.C. residents live in poverty, with most of that population concentrated in Wards 7 and 8. That population is likely to grow as the coronavirus pandemic continues to have an economic impact. “Poverty is stubbornly high, particularly east of the Anacostia River,” Silverman said. “In fact, the poverty rate east of the Anacostia River is two and a half times the overall rate for the city.”

Twenty-six percent of Black families in the District live in poverty. That number is even higher in Ward 8, at 35%.

The 19-member commission will be a mix of appointments made by the council and mayor’s office. Each ward will have one representative, in addition to 11 at-large members. All eight members representing wards must be people living near or below the poverty line. In addition to those 19 members, there will be 8 ex-officio members of the commission.

The bill will head to the council for a second vote in mid-December.