Federal

Fair COLA for Seniors Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 920 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes how the federal government calculates cost-of-living increases (automatic raises given to keep up with inflation) for certain benefit programs. Instead of using the regular Consumer Price Index (a measure of how prices change for average Americans), the bill requires using the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers, which tracks price changes specifically affecting seniors.

Who It Affects

Social Security beneficiaries, federal employees receiving Civil Service Retirement System or Federal Employees Retirement System annuities, veterans receiving disability compensation and survivor benefits, and military retirees and their survivors.

Key Provisions

• The bill defines "Consumer Price Index" to mean the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor (Sec. 2(a)). • The Bureau of Labor Statistics must prepare and publish the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers for each calendar month, starting with the date this bill becomes law (Sec. 2(c)). • Whenever Social Security benefit amounts increase by a certain percentage, the dollar amounts for seven specific federal benefit programs must increase by that same percentage (Sec. 3). • The seven affected benefit programs include Civil Service and Federal Employees retirement annuities, Veterans Affairs disability compensation, Veterans Affairs survivor benefits, and military retirement and survivor benefit programs (Sec. 3(1) through 3(7)).

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, Social Security and seven other federal benefit programs will calculate their annual increases using a measurement of inflation that tracks what seniors specifically pay for, rather than what all Americans pay for on average.

Important Definitions

Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI-E): A measure of how prices change for elderly consumers, published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.

Effective Date

The changes apply to cost-of-living calculations for quarters ending on or after September 30, 2023 (Sec. 2(d)).

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 716 To provide for cost-of-living increases for certain Federal benefits programs based on increases in the Consumer Price Index for the elderly. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 1, 2023 Mr. GARAMENDI (for himself, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. GRI- JALVA, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. TITUS, Ms. PIN- GREE, Ms. ROSS, Ms. OMAR, Mr. CROW, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. LIEU, and Mr. BOWMAN) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, Oversight and Accountability, and Armed Services, for a period to be sub- sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for cost-of-living increases for certain Federal benefits programs based on increases in the Consumer Price Index for the elderly. 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 ‘‘Fair COLA for Seniors 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:51 Feb 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H716.IH H716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 716 IH SEC. 2. COMPUTATION OF COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES 1 BASED ON CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR EL- 2 DERLY CONSUMERS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(i)(1) of the Social Se- 4 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(1)) is amended by adding 5 at the end the following new subparagraph: 6 ‘‘(H) the term ‘Consumer Price Index’ means 7 the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers 8 (CPI–E, as published by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 9 tistics of the Department of Labor).’’. 10 (b) APPLICATION TO PRE-1979 LAW.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(i)(1) of the So- 12 cial Security Act as in effect in December 1978, and 13 as applied in certain cases under the provisions of 14 such Act as in effect after December 1978, is 15 amended by adding at the end the following new 16 subparagraph: 17 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Consumer Price Index’ means 18 the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers 19 (CPI–E, as published by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 20 tistics of the Department of Labor).’’. 21 (2) CONFORMING CHANGE.—Section 215(i)(4) 22 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(4)) is 23 amended— 24 (A) by striking ‘‘and by section 9001’’ and 25 inserting ‘‘, section 9001’’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:51 Feb 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H716.IH H716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 716 IH (B) by inserting ‘‘and section 2 of the Fair 1 COLA for Seniors Act of 2023,’’ after ‘‘1986,’’. 2 (c) PUBLICATION OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR 3 ELDERLY CONSUMERS.—The Bureau of Labor Statistics 4 of the Department of Labor shall prepare and publish the 5 index authorized by section 191 of the Older Americans 6 Amendments Act of 1987 (29 U.S.C. 2 note) for each cal- 7 endar month, beginning with the date of enactment of this 8 Act, and such index shall be known as the ‘‘Consumer 9 Price Index for Elderly Consumers’’. 10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 11 subsection (a) shall apply to determinations made with re- 12 spect to cost-of-living computation quarters (as defined in 13 section 215(i)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 14 415(i)(1)(B))) ending on or after September 30, 2023. 15 SEC. 3. COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES FOR CERTAIN FED- 16 ERAL BENEFITS PROGRAMS BASED ON IN- 17 CREASES IN THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX 18 FOR THE ELDERLY. 19 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, whenever 20 benefit amounts under title II of the Social Security Act 21 are increased by any percentage effective with any month 22 as a result of a determination made under section 215(i) 23 of such Act, the dollar amounts in effect for the payment 24 of the following benefits, as such amounts were in effect 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:51 Feb 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H716.IH H716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 716 IH immediately before the increase of such benefit amounts, 1 shall be increased by the same percentage: 2 (1) An annuity under the Civil Service Retire- 3 ment System or the Federal Employees Retirement 4 System. 5 (2) Department of Veterans Affairs wartime 6 disability compensation under section 1114 of title 7 38, United States Code. 8 (3) Department of Veterans Affairs additional 9 compensation for dependents under section 1115(1) 10 of such title. 11 (4) The Department of Veterans Affairs cloth- 12 ing allowance under section 1162 of such title. 13 (5) Department of Veterans Affairs dependency 14 and indemnity compensation to surviving spouse 15 under subsections (a) through (d) of section 1311 of 16 such title. 17 (6) Department of Veterans Affairs dependency 18 and indemnity compensation to children under sec- 19 tions 1313(a) and 1314 of such title. 20 (7) Military retirement and survivor benefit 21 programs, as defined in section 1461(b) of title 10, 22 United States Code. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:51 Feb 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H716.IH H716 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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