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I
116TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 6356
To protect our Social Security system and improve benefits for current and
future generations.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 23, 2020
Mr. LARSON of Connecticut (for himself, Ms. PINGREE, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr.
CLAY, Mr. RUSH, Ms. FRANKEL, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas,
Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. MICHAEL
F. DOYLE
of Pennsylvania, Mr.
LOWENTHAL, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. CARSON of Indi-
ana, Mr. COHEN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of
Pennsylvania, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. DANNY K.
DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms.
JUDY CHU of California, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. WILD, Mr.
PERLMUTTER, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mrs. HAYES, Ms.
MOORE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr.
VARGAS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. POCAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr.
THOMPSON of California, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms.
HAALAND, Mr. RYAN, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama,
and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee
on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To protect our Social Security system and improve benefits
for current and future generations.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Social Se-
2
curity Benefits Improvement Act’’.
3
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
4
The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
5
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
Sec. 3. Across-the-board benefit increase.
Sec. 4. Increase in minimum benefit for lifetime low earners based on years in
the workforce.
Sec. 5. Increase in threshold amounts and rate for inclusion of Social Security
benefits in income.
Sec. 6. Extension of child’s benefit for full-time post-secondary school students
under age 23.
Sec. 7. Improving Social Security benefits for widows and widowers in two-in-
come households.
Sec. 8. Increasing access to benefits for children who live with grandparents or
other relatives.
Sec. 9. Holding SSI, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries harmless.
Sec. 10. Expedited adjustment of underpayments.
Sec. 11. Appropriation of funds.
SEC. 3. ACROSS-THE-BOARD BENEFIT INCREASE.
6
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(a)(1)(A)(i) of the So-
7
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(a)(1)(A)(i)) is amended
8
by striking ‘‘90 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘93 percent’’.
9
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
10
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The amendment made by
11
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to monthly
12
insurance benefits payable for months in calendar
13
year 2020.
14
(2) RECOMPUTATION OF PRIMARY INSURANCE
15
AMOUNTS.—Notwithstanding section 215(f) of the
16
Social Security Act, the Commissioner of Social Se-
17
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•HR 6356 IH
curity shall recompute primary insurance amounts
1
to the extent necessary—
2
(A) to carry out the amendments made by
3
this section; and
4
(B) to account for the nonapplication of
5
such amendments after calendar year 2020.
6
(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of ap-
7
plying subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 215(i)(1) of
8
the Social Security Act in any calendar year, nothing in
9
this Act shall be considered a general benefit increase
10
under title II of such Act.
11
SEC. 4. INCREASE IN MINIMUM BENEFIT FOR LIFETIME
12
LOW EARNERS BASED ON YEARS IN THE
13
WORKFORCE.
14
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(a)(1) of the Social
15
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(a)(1)) is amended—
16
(1) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub-
17
paragraph (E); and
18
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol-
19
lowing new subparagraph:
20
‘‘(D)(i) Effective with respect to monthly insurance
21
benefits payable for months in calendar year 2020, no pri-
22
mary insurance amount computed under subparagraph
23
(A) may be less than the greater of—
24
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‘‘(I) the minimum monthly amount computed
1
under subparagraph (C); or
2
‘‘(II) in the case of an individual who has more
3
than 10 years of work (as defined in clause (iv)(I)),
4
the alternative minimum amount determined under
5
clause (ii).
6
‘‘(ii)(I) The alternative minimum amount determined
7
under this clause is the applicable percentage of 1⁄12 of
8
the poverty guideline for 2019.
9
‘‘(II) For purposes of subclause (I), the applicable
10
percentage is the percentage specified in connection with
11
the number of years of work, as set forth in the following
12
table:
13
‘‘If the number of years
The applicable
of work is:
percentage is:
11 ......................................................................................
6.25 percent
12 ......................................................................................
12.50 percent
13 ......................................................................................
18.75 percent
14 ......................................................................................
25.00 percent
15 ......................................................................................
31.25 percent
16 ......................................................................................
37.50 percent
17 ......................................................................................
43.75 percent
18 ......................................................................................
50.00 percent
19 ......................................................................................
56.25 percent
20 ......................................................................................
62.50 percent
21 ......................................................................................
68.75 percent
22 ......................................................................................
75.00 percent
23 ......................................................................................
81.25 percent
24 ......................................................................................
87.50 percent
25 ......................................................................................
93.75 percent
26 ......................................................................................
100.00 percent
27 ......................................................................................
106.25 percent
28 ......................................................................................
112.50 percent
29 ......................................................................................
118.75 percent
30 or more ........................................................................
125.00 percent.
‘‘(iii) For purposes of this subparagraph—
14
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‘‘(I) the term ‘year of work’ means, with re-
1
spect to an individual, a year to which 4 quarters of
2
coverage have been credited based on such individ-
3
ual’s wages and self-employment income; and
4
‘‘(II) the term ‘poverty guideline for 2019’
5
means the annual poverty guideline for 2019 (as up-
6
dated annually in the Federal Register by the De-
7
partment of Health and Human Services under the
8
authority of section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget
9
Reconciliation Act of 1981) as applicable to a single
10
individual.’’.
11
(b) RECOMPUTATION
OF
PRIMARY
INSURANCE
12
AMOUNTS.—Notwithstanding section 215(f) of the Social
13
Security Act, the Commissioner of Social Security shall
14
recompute primary insurance amounts to the extent nec-
15
essary—
16
(1) to carry out the amendments made by this
17
section; and
18
(2) to account for the nonapplication of such
19
amendments after calendar year 2020.
20
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 209(k)(1)
21
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 409(k)(1)) is amended by inserting
22
‘‘215(a)(1)(E),’’ after ‘‘215(a)(1)(D),’’.
23
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•HR 6356 IH
SEC. 5. INCREASE IN THRESHOLD AMOUNTS AND RATE
1
FOR INCLUSION OF SOCIAL SECURITY BENE-
2
FITS IN INCOME.
3
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 86 of the
4
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as fol-
5
lows:
6
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Gross income for the taxable
7
year of any taxpayer described in subsection (b) (notwith-
8
standing section 207 of the Social Security Act) includes
9
Social Security benefits in an amount equal to the lesser
10
of—
11
‘‘(1) 85 percent of the Social Security benefits
12
received during the taxable year, or
13
‘‘(2) one-half of the excess described in sub-
14
section (b)(1).’’.
15
(b) BASE AMOUNT.—Subsection (c) of section 86 of
16
such Code is amended to read as follows:
17
‘‘(c) BASE AMOUNT.—For purposes of this section,
18
the term ‘base amount’ means—
19
‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this para-
20
graph, $35,000,
21
‘‘(2) $50,000 in the case of a joint return, and
22
‘‘(3) zero in the case of a taxpayer who—
23
‘‘(A) is married as of the close of the tax-
24
able year (within the meaning of section 7703)
25
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•HR 6356 IH
but does not file a joint return for such year,
1
and
2
‘‘(B) does not live apart from his spouse at
3
all times during the taxable year.’’.
4
(c) TRANSFERS TO TRUST FUNDS.—
5
(1) HOSPITAL INSURANCE TRUST FUND HELD
6
HARMLESS.—Of the total revenue from taxation of
7
social security benefits, there are appropriated to the
8
Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund such
9
amounts as would be transferred to such fund under
10
section 121(e) of the Social Security Amendments of
11
1983 (42 U.S.C. 401 note) and section 86 of such
12
Code as such sections were in effect on the day be-
13
fore the date of the enactment of this Act, at such
14
times and in such manner as would be provided
15
therein.
16
(2) TRANSFERS TO PAYOR FUNDS.—Of the bal-
17
ance of the total revenue from taxation of social se-
18
curity benefits remaining after appropriations under
19
paragraph (1) have been made, there are appro-
20
priated to each payor fund amounts equivalent to
21
the portion of such balance equal to a fraction—
22
(A) the numerator of which is the amount
23
equivalent to the net revenues received in the
24
Treasury attributable to the application of sec-
25
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•HR 6356 IH
tions 86 and 871(a)(3) of such Code to pay-
1
ments from such payor fund made in taxable
2
years beginning during calendar year 2019; and
3
(B) the denominator of which is the total
4
revenue from taxation of social security bene-
5
fits.
6
(3) TRANSFERS.—The amounts appropriated
7
by paragraph (2) to any payor fund shall be trans-
8
ferred from time to time (but not less frequently
9
than quarterly) from the general fund of the Treas-
10
ury on the basis of estimates made by the Secretary
11
of the Treasury of the amounts referred to in such
12
paragraph. Any such quarterly payment shall be
13
made on the first day of such quarter and shall take
14
into account social security benefits estimated to be
15
received during such quarter. Proper adjustments
16
shall be made in the amounts subsequently trans-
17
ferred to the extent prior estimates were in excess
18
of or less than the amounts required to be trans-
19
ferred.
20
(4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
21
section—
22
(A) TOTAL REVENUE FROM TAXATION OF
23
SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS.—The term ‘‘total
24
revenue from taxation of social security bene-
25
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•HR 6356 IH
fits’’ means the amount equivalent to the net
1
revenues received in the Treasury attributable
2
to the application of sections 86 and 871(a)(3)
3
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to pay-
4
ments from any payor fund made in taxable
5
years beginning during calendar year 2019.
6
(B) PAYOR
FUND.—The term ‘‘payor
7
fund’’ means any trust fund or account from
8
which payments of social security benefits are
9
made.
10
(C) SOCIAL
SECURITY
BENEFITS.—The
11
term ‘‘social security benefits’’ has the meaning
12
given such term by section 86(d)(1) of the In-
13
ternal Revenue Code of 1986.
14
(5) CONFORMING RULE.—Section 121(e) of the
15
Social Security Amendments of 1983 (42 U.S.C.
16
401 note) shall not apply with respect to net reve-
17
nues received in the Treasury attributable to the ap-
18
plication of sections 86 and 871(a)(3) of the Inter-
19
nal Revenue Code of 1986 to payments from any
20
payor fund made in taxable years beginning during
21
calendar year 2019.
22
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
23
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning in cal-
24
endar year 2019.
25
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•HR 6356 IH
SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF CHILD’S BENEFIT FOR FULL-TIME
1
POST-SECONDARY
SCHOOL
STUDENTS
2
UNDER AGE 23.
3
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(d)(1)(B) of the So-
4
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)(1)(B)) is amended to
5
read as follows:
6
‘‘(B) at the time such application was filed
7
was unmarried and—
8
‘‘(i) had not attained the age of 18,
9
‘‘(ii) was a full-time elementary or
10
secondary school student and had not at-
11
tained the age of 22,
12
‘‘(iii) was a full-time post-secondary
13
school student and had not attained the
14
age of 23, or
15
‘‘(iv) is under a disability (as defined
16
in section 223(d)) which began before he
17
attained the age of 22, and’’.
18
(b) DEFINITION OF FULL-TIME POST-SECONDARY
19
SCHOOL STUDENT.—
20
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(d)(7) of such
21
Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)(7)) is amended—
22
(A) in subparagraph (A)—
23
(i) by inserting ‘‘and a ‘full-time post-
24
secondar
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