Strengthening Social Security for Widows Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3915 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to improve social security benefits for widows and widowers in two-income households, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2021 Mr. REED introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend title II of the Social Security Act to improve social security benefits for widows and widowers in two- income households, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Social 4 Security for Widows Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. IMPROVING SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS FOR WID- 6 OWS AND WIDOWERS IN TWO-INCOME HOUSE- 7 HOLDS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3915.IH H3915 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3915 IH (1) WIDOWS.—Section 202(e) of the Social Se- 1 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 402(e)) is amended— 2 (A) in paragraph (1)— 3 (i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 4 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 5 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(iii), by strik- 6 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end; 7 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D); 8 (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 9 (E) and (F) as subparagraphs (D) and 10 (E), respectively; and 11 (v) in the flush matter following sub- 12 paragraph (E)(ii), as so redesignated, by 13 striking ‘‘or becomes entitled to an old-age 14 insurance benefit’’ and all that follows 15 through ‘‘such deceased individual,’’; 16 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) in para- 17 graph (2) and inserting the following: 18 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subsection 19 (k)(5), subsection (q), and subparagraph (D) of this 20 paragraph, such widow’s insurance benefit for each 21 month shall be equal to the greater of— 22 ‘‘(i) the primary insurance amount (as de- 23 termined for purposes of this subsection after 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3915.IH H3915 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3915 IH application of subparagraphs (B) and (C)) of 1 such deceased individual, or 2 ‘‘(ii) subject to paragraph (9), in the case 3 of a fully insured widow or surviving divorced 4 wife, 75 percent of the sum of any old-age or 5 disability insurance benefit for which the widow 6 or the surviving divorced wife is entitled for 7 such month and the primary insurance amount 8 (as determined for purposes of this subsection 9 after application of subparagraphs (B) and (C)) 10 of such deceased individual.’’; 11 (C) in paragraph (5)— 12 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 13 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 14 graph (1)(E)’’; and 15 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 16 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)(i)’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘paragraph (1)(E)(i)’’; and 18 (D) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(9) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(ii), the 20 amount determined under such paragraph shall not 21 exceed the primary insurance amount for such 22 month of a hypothetical individual— 23 ‘‘(A) who became entitled to old-age insur- 24 ance benefits upon attaining early retirement 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3915.IH H3915 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3915 IH age during the month in which the deceased in- 1 dividual referred to in paragraph (1) became 2 entitled to old-age or disability insurance bene- 3 fits, or died (before becoming entitled to such 4 benefits), and 5 ‘‘(B) to whom wages and self-employment 6 income were credited in each of such hypo- 7 thetical individual’s elapsed years (within the 8 meaning of section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii)) in an 9 amount equal to the national average wage 10 index (as described in section 209(k)(1)) for 11 each such year.’’. 12 (2) WIDOWERS.—Section 202(f) of the Social 13 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(f)) is amended— 14 (A) in paragraph (1)— 15 (i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 17 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(iii), by strik- 18 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end; 19 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D); 20 (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 21 (E) and (F) as subparagraphs (D) and 22 (E), respectively; and 23 (v) in the flush matter following sub- 24 paragraph (E)(ii), as so redesignated, by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3915.IH H3915 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3915 IH striking ‘‘or becomes entitled to an old-age 1 insurance benefit’’ and all that follows 2 through ‘‘such deceased individual,’’; 3 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) in para- 4 graph (2) and inserting the following: 5 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subsection 6 (k)(5), subsection (q), and subparagraph (D) of this 7 paragraph, such widower’s insurance benefit for 8 each month shall be equal to the greater of— 9 ‘‘(i) the primary insurance amount (as de- 10 termined for purposes of this subsection after 11 application of subparagraphs (B) and (C)) of 12 such deceased individual, or 13 ‘‘(ii) subject to paragraph (9), in the case 14 of a fully insured widower or surviving divorced 15 husband, 75 percent of the sum of any old-age 16 or disability insurance benefit for which the 17 widower or the surviving divorced husband is 18 entitled for such month and the primary insur- 19 ance amount (as determined for purposes of 20 this subsection after application of subpara- 21 graphs (B) and (C)) of such deceased indi- 22 vidual.’’; 23 (C) in paragraph (5)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3915.IH H3915 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3915 IH (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 1 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 2 graph (1)(E)’’; and 3 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 4 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)(i)’’ and inserting 5 ‘‘paragraph (1)(E)(i)’’; and 6 (D) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(9) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(ii), the 8 amount determined under such paragraph shall not 9 exceed the primary insurance amount for such 10 month of a hypothetical individual— 11 ‘‘(A) who became entitled to old-age insur- 12 ance benefits upon attaining early retirement 13 age during the month in which the deceased in- 14 dividual referred to in paragraph (1) became 15 entitled to old-age or disability insurance bene- 16 fits, or died (before becoming entitled to such 17 benefits), and 18 ‘‘(B) to whom wages and self-employment 19 income were credited in each of such hypo- 20 thetical individual’s elapsed years (within the 21 meaning of section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii)) in an 22 amount equal to the national average wage 23 index (as described in section 209(k)(1)) for 24 each such year.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3915.IH H3915 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3915 IH (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall apply with respect to widow’s and wid- 2 ower’s insurance benefits payable for months after Decem- 3 ber 2023. 4 SEC. 3. BENEFITS FOR DISABLED SURVIVING SPOUSES. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.— 6 (1) ELIGIBILITY FOR WIDOW’S INSURANCE 7 BENEFITS.—Section 202(e)(1)(B)(ii) of the Social 8 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(e)(1)(B)(ii)) is amend- 9 ed by striking ‘‘has attained age 50 but has not at- 10 tained age 60 and’’. 11 (2) ELIGIBILITY FOR WIDOWER’S INSURANCE 12 BENEFITS.—Section 202(f)(1)(B)(ii) of such Act (42 13 U.S.C. 402(f)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended by striking ‘‘has 14 attained age 50 but has not attained age 60 and’’. 15 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 16 202(q)(3)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 402(q)(3)(A)) 17 is amended by striking ‘‘If the first month’’ and all 18 that follows through ‘‘widow’s or widower’s insur- 19 ance benefit)’’ and inserting ‘‘If the first month for 20 which an individual both is entitled to a wife’s or 21 husband’s insurance benefit and has attained age 62 22 or for which an individual is entitled to a widow’s or 23 widower’s insurance benefit’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3915.IH H3915 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3915 IH (b) PRECLUSION OF ENTITLEMENT AFTER EARLY 1 REMARRIAGE.— 2 (1) WIDOW’S INSURANCE BENEFITS.—Section 3 202(e)(1)(B)(ii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 4 402(e)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and has 5 not remarried prior to attaining the age which is 12 6 years less than early retirement age (as defined in 7 section 216(l)(2))’’ before the comma. 8 (2) WIDOWER’S INSURANCE BENEFITS.—Sec- 9 tion 202(f)(1)(B)(ii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 10 402(f)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and has 11 not remarried prior to attaining the age which is 12 12 years less than early retirement age (as defined in 13 section 216(l)(2))’’ before the comma. 14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 15 this section shall apply with respect to benefits payable 16 for months after December 2022 and for which applica- 17 tions are filed after December 2022. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Jul 15, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3915.IH H3915 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS