Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3824 To amend title XVI of the Social Security Act to update eligibility for the supplemental security income program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2021 Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Ms. DEAN, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. KILMER, Mr. LAN- GEVIN, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. BASS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. COOPER, Ms. MOORE of Wis- consin, Ms. NORTON, Ms. KAPTUR, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. EVANS, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. BLUNT ROCH- ESTER, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, and Ms. PINGREE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend title XVI of the Social Security Act to update eligibility for the supplemental security income program, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3824.IH H3824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3824 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Update in eligibility for the supplemental security income program. Sec. 3. Update in supplemental security income benefit amounts and repeal of marriage penalty. Sec. 4. Support and maintenance furnished in kind not included as income. Sec. 5. Exclusion of retirement accounts from resources. Sec. 6. Repeal of penalty for disposal of resources for less than fair market value. Sec. 7. Clarifying the treatment of certain State tax credits. Sec. 8. Elimination of dedicated accounts for certain past-due benefits. Sec. 9. Elimination of installment payment requirement. Sec. 10. Extension of period of exclusion of certain payments from countable resources. Sec. 11. Modification of rules to determine marital relationships. Sec. 12. Effective date. SEC. 2. UPDATE IN ELIGIBILITY FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL 3 SECURITY INCOME PROGRAM. 4 (a) UPDATE IN GENERAL INCOME EXCLUSION.— 5 Section 1612(b)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 6 U.S.C. 1382a(b)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘$240’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘$1,536 (increased as described in section 8 1617(d) for each calendar year after 2022)’’. 9 (b) UPDATE IN EARNED INCOME EXCLUSION.—Sec- 10 tion 1612(b)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382a(b)(4)) is 11 amended by striking ‘‘$780’’ each place it appears and 12 inserting ‘‘$4,992 (increased as described in section 13 1617(d) for each calendar year after 2022)’’. 14 (c) UPDATE IN RESOURCE LIMIT FOR INDIVIDUALS 15 AND COUPLES.—Section 1611(a)(3) of such Act (42 16 U.S.C. 1382(a)(3)) is amended— 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3824.IH H3824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3824 IH (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘$2,250’’ 1 and all that follows through the end of the subpara- 2 graph and inserting ‘‘$20,000 in calendar year 3 2022, and shall be increased as described in section 4 1617(d) for each subsequent calendar year.’’; and 5 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘$1,500’’ 6 and all that follows through the end of the subpara- 7 graph and inserting ‘‘$10,000 in calendar year 8 2022, and shall be increased as described in section 9 1617(d) for each subsequent calendar year.’’. 10 (d) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Section 1617 of such 11 Act (42 U.S.C. 1382f) is amended— 12 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘; IN- 13 FLATION ADJUSTMENT’’ after ‘‘BENEFITS’’; and 14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(d) In the case of any calendar year after 2022, each 16 of the amounts specified in sections 1611(a)(3), 17 1612(b)(2)(A), and 1612(b)(4) shall be increased by mul- 18 tiplying each such amount by the quotient (not less than 19 1) obtained by dividing— 20 ‘‘(1) the average of the Consumer Price Index 21 for Elderly Consumers (CPI–E, as published by the 22 Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 23 Labor) for the 12-month period ending with Sep- 24 tember of the preceding calendar year, by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3824.IH H3824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3824 IH ‘‘(2) such average for the 12-month period end- 1 ing with September 2021.’’. 2 SEC. 3. UPDATE IN SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME 3 BENEFIT AMOUNTS AND REPEAL OF MAR- 4 RIAGE PENALTY. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1611(b) of the Social Se- 6 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1382(b)) is amended to read as fol- 7 lows: 8 ‘‘Amounts of Benefits 9 ‘‘(b)(1) The benefit under this title for an individual 10 who does not have an eligible spouse shall be payable— 11 ‘‘(A) for calendar years 1974 through 2021, at 12 the rate of $1,752 (or, if greater, the amount deter- 13 mined under section 1617), and 14 ‘‘(B) for calendar years after 2021, at the rate 15 equal to the annual poverty guideline for the cal- 16 endar year preceding such calendar year (as updated 17 annually in the Federal Register by the Department 18 of Health and Human Services under the authority 19 of section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconcili- 20 ation Act of 1981) as applicable to a single indi- 21 vidual, 22 reduced by the amount of income, not excluded pursuant 23 to section 1612(b), of such individual. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3824.IH H3824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3824 IH ‘‘(2) The benefit under this title for an individual who 1 has an eligible spouse shall be payable— 2 ‘‘(A) for calendar years 1974 through 2021, at 3 the rate of $2,628 (or, if greater, the amount deter- 4 mined under section 1617), and 5 ‘‘(B) for calendar years after 2021, at the rate 6 equal to twice the rate described in paragraph 7 (1)(B), 8 reduced by the amount of income, not excluded pursuant 9 to section 1612(b), of such individual and spouse.’’. 10 (b) CONFORMING CHANGES TO COST-OF-LIVING AD- 11 JUSTMENTS.—Section 1617(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12 1382f(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘(a)(1)(A), (a)(2)(A), 13 (b)(1), and (b)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)(1)(A) and 14 (a)(2)(A)’’. 15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 16 this section shall apply with respect to calendar years after 17 2021. 18 SEC. 4. SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE FURNISHED IN KIND 19 NOT INCLUDED AS INCOME. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1612(a)(2) of such Act 21 (42 U.S.C. 1382a(a)(2)) is amended— 22 (1) by inserting ‘‘(other than support or main- 23 tenance furnished in kind)’’ after ‘‘all other income’’; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3824.IH H3824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3824 IH (2) in subparagraph (A)— 1 (A) by striking ‘‘or kind’’; 2 (B) by striking clause (i) and redesig- 3 nating clauses (ii) and (iii) as clauses (i) and 4 (ii), respectively; and 5 (C) in clause (ii) (as so redesignated), by 6 striking ‘‘and the provisions of clause (i) shall 7 not be applicable’’. 8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 9 (1) Section 1611(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 10 1382(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (6) and 11 redesignating paragraphs (7) through (10) as para- 12 graphs (6) through (9), respectively. 13 (2) Section 1612(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 14 1382a(a)(2)) is amended— 15 (A) in subparagraph (F), by inserting 16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 17 (B) in subparagraph (G), by striking ‘‘; 18 and’’ and inserting a period; 19 (C) by moving subparagraph (G) 2 ems to 20 the right; and 21 (D) by striking subparagraph (H). 22 (3) Section 1621(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 23 1382j(c)) is amended to read as follows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3824.IH H3824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3824 IH ‘‘(c) In determining the amount of income of an alien 1 during the period of 5 years after such alien’s entry into 2 the United States, support or maintenance furnished in 3 cash to the alien by such alien’s sponsor (to the extent 4 that it reflects income or resources which were taken into 5 account in determining the amount of income and re- 6 sources to be deemed to the alien under subsection (a) 7 or (b) of this section) shall not be considered to be income 8 of such alien under section 1612(a)(2)(A).’’. 9 SEC. 5. EXCLUSION OF RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS FROM RE- 10 SOURCES. 11 Section 1613(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 12 1382b(a)) is amended— 13 (1) in paragraph (16), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 14 inserting a semicolon; 15 (2) in paragraph (17), by striking the period at 16 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 17 (3) by inserting after paragraph (17) the fol- 18 lowing new paragraph: 19 ‘‘(18) any qualified retirement plan or eligible 20 deferred compensation plan (as such terms are de- 21 fined in sections 4974(c) and 457(b), respectively, of 22 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986).’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3824.IH H3824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3824 IH SEC. 6. REPEAL OF PENALTY FOR DISPOSAL OF RE- 1 SOURCES FOR LESS THAN FAIR MARKET 2 VALUE. 3 Section 1613(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382b(c)) is 4 amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION OF MEDICAID POLICY RESTRICT- 6 ING ELIGIBILITY OF INSTITUTIONALIZED INDIVIDUALS 7 FOR BENEFITS BASED ON DISPOSAL OF RESOURCES FOR 8 LESS THAN FAIR MARKET VALUE.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the time an individual 10 (and the individual’s eligible spouse, if any) applies 11 for benefits under this title, and at the time the eli- 12 gibility of an individual (and such spouse, if any) for 13 such benefits is redetermined, the Commissioner of 14 Social Security shall— 15 ‘‘(A) inform such individual of the provi- 16 sions of section 1917(c) providing for a period 17 of ineligibility for benefits under title XIX for 18 individuals who make certain dispositions of re- 19 sources for less than fair market value, and in- 20 form such individual that information obtained 21 pursuant to subparagraph (B) will be made 22 available to the State agency administering a 23 State plan under title XIX (as provided in 24 paragraph (2)); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3824.IH H3824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3824 IH ‘‘(B) obtain from such individual informa- 1 tion which may be used by the State agency in 2 determining whether or not a period of ineligi- 3 bility for such benefits would be required by 4 reason of section 1917(c). 5 ‘‘(2) PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO STATE 6 MEDICAID AGENCIES.—The Commissioner of Social 7 Security shall make the information obtained under 8 paragraph (1)(B) available, on request, to any State 9 agency administering a State plan approved under 10 title XIX.’’. 11 SEC. 7. CLARIFYING THE TREATMENT OF CERTAIN STATE 12 TAX CREDITS. 13 Title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 14 1382a) is amended— 15 (1) in section 1612(b)(19), by striking ‘‘and 16 any payment’’ and all that follows through ‘‘credit)’’ 17 and inserting ‘‘and any refund of State income taxes 18 made to such individual (or such spouse) by reason 19 of a State earned income tax credit (as defined by 20 the Secretary)’’; and 21 (2) in section 1613(a)(11)— 22 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, 23 and any refund of State income taxes made to 24 such individual (or such spouse) by reason of a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3824.IH H3824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3824 IH State child tax credit (as defined by the Sec- 1 retary)’’ before the semicolon; and 2 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and 3 any payment’’ and all that follows through 4 ‘‘credit)’’ and inserting ‘‘and any refund of 5 State income taxes made to such individual (or 6 such spouse) by reason of a State earned in- 7 come tax credit (as defined by the Secretary)’’. 8 SEC. 8. ELIMINATION OF DEDICATED ACCOUNTS FOR CER- 9 TAIN PAST-DUE BENEFITS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1631(a)(2) of the Social 11 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)) is amended by strik- 12 ing subparagraph (F). 13 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 14 (1) RELATING TO PAYMENTS AND PROCE- 15 DURES.—Section 1631(a)(2) of the Social Security 16 Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)), as amended by sub- 17 section (a), is amended— 18 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (G), 19 (H), and (I) as subparagraphs (F), (G), and 20 (H), respectively; 21 (B) in subparagraph (B)(vii)(I), by strik- 22 ing ‘‘subparagraph (I)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara- 23 graph (H)’’; 24 (C) in subparagraph (D)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3824.IH H3824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3824 IH (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘subpara- 1 graphs (E) and (F)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub- 2 paragraph (E)’’; and 3 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘sub- 4 paragraph (I)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara- 5 graph (H)’’; 6 (D) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘sub- 7 paragraph (H)(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara- 8 graph (G)(ii)’’; and 9 (E) in subparagraph (G)(i)(II), as redesig- 10 nated by subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘sub- 11 paragraph (I)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph 12 (H)’’. 13 (2) EXCLUSIONS FROM INCOME.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 1612(b) of the 15 Social Security Act is amended— 16 (i) by striking paragraph (21); and 17 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (22) 18 through (26) as paragraphs (21) through 19 (25), respectively. 20 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 21 1613(a)(17) of such Act is amended by striking 22 ‘‘section 1612(b)(26)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 23 1612(b)(25)’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3824.IH H3824 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3824 IH (3) EXCLUSIONS FROM RESOURCES.—Section 1 1613(a) of the Social Security Act, as amended by 2 section 5, is amended— 3 (A) by striking paragraph (12); and 4 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (13) 5 through (18) as paragraphs (12) through (17), 6 respectively. 7 (c) TREATMENT OF AMOUNTS TRANSFERRED FROM 8 DEDICATED ACCOUNTS.—Amounts transferred from an 9 account established on behalf of an individual as described 10 in section 1631(a)(2)( [Text truncated for display. 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