To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to provide for an improved method to measure poverty so as to enable a better assessment of the effects of programs under the Social Security Act, and for other purposes.

Measuring American Poverty Act of 2009 - Amends part A of title XI of the Social Security Act to direct the Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau), in collaboration with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), to calculate modern poverty thresholds and modern poverty rates for each calendar year. Directs the Census Bureau and the BLS to choose: (1) the most appropriate distribution of...