COLA Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2266 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for a minimum annual cost-of-living increase for Social Security benefits, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 26, 2021 Mr. WALBERG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor, 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 amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for a minimum annual cost-of-living increase for Social Security benefits, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Certainty for Older 4 Living Americans Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘COLA Act of 5 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2266.IH H2266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2266 IH SEC. 2. COMPUTATION OF COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(i) of the Social Secu- 2 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)) is amended— 3 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘with re- 4 spect to which the applicable increase percentage is 5 greater than zero;’’; and 6 (2) in paragraph (2)— 7 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 8 (i) in clause (ii), in the matter fol- 9 lowing subclause (III), by striking ‘‘appli- 10 cable increase percentage’’ and inserting 11 ‘‘the increase percentage determined under 12 clause (iv) for such year’’; and 13 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(iv) The increase percentage determined under this 16 clause for a year shall be the greater of— 17 ‘‘(I) the applicable increase percentage with re- 18 spect to a cost-of-living computation quarter in such 19 year; or 20 ‘‘(II) the arithmetical mean of the increase per- 21 centages determined under this clause for each of 22 the years in the 10-year period ending with the year 23 before such year.’’; and 24 (B) in the first sentence of subparagraph 25 (D), by striking ‘‘and the percentage thereof’’ 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2266.IH H2266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2266 IH and inserting ‘‘, the percentage thereof, and the 1 increase percentage determined under subpara- 2 graph (A)(iv) for the following year’’. 3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 4 this section shall apply with respect to cost-of-living com- 5 putation quarters ending on or after September 30, 2021. 6 SEC. 3. WORKING GROUP ON USE OF NATIONAL ACCOUNTS 7 DATA. 8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Labor and 9 the Secretary of Commerce shall establish a working group 10 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Working Group’’) to 11 provide recommendations to the Bureau of Labor Statis- 12 tics on incorporating national accounts data to produce— 13 (1) an accurate, timely, and relevant Consumer 14 Price Index; and 15 (2) up-to-date expenditure weights. 16 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 17 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary of Labor 18 and the Secretary of Commerce shall appoint to the 19 Working Group individuals with expertise relating to 20 statistical and computational methods, survey re- 21 search, and economic, social, and demographic meas- 22 urement. 23 (2) REPRESENTATION.—In appointing rep- 24 resentatives to the Working Group, the Secretary of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2266.IH H2266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2266 IH Labor and the Secretary of Commerce shall consider 1 appointing members from relevant Federal agencies 2 and non-Federal stakeholder groups, including— 3 (3) the Bureau of Labor Statistics; 4 (4) the Bureau of Economic Analysis; and 5 (5) the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory 6 Committee. 7 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 8 date of enactment of this Act, the Working Group shall 9 submit to the Committee on Education and Labor of the 10 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 11 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 12 that includes the findings and recommendations of the 13 Working Group under subsection (a). 14 (d) TERMINATION.—The Working Group shall termi- 15 nate upon submission of the report required under sub- 16 section (c). 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2266.IH H2266 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS