Social Security 2100 Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 269 To protect our Social Security system and improve benefits for current and future generations. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 30, 2019 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security 2100 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. TITLE I—STRENGTHENING BENEFITS Sec. 101. Across-the-board benefit increase. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 269 IS Sec. 102. More accurate cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security bene- ficiaries. Sec. 103. Increase in minimum benefit for lifetime low earners based on years in the workforce. Sec. 104. Increase in threshold amounts and rate for inclusion of Social Secu- rity benefits in income. Sec. 105. Holding SSI, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries harmless. TITLE II—STRENGTHENING THE TRUST FUND Sec. 201. Determination of wages and self-employment income above contribu- tion and benefit base after 2019. Sec. 202. Inclusion of earnings over $400,000 in Social Security benefit for- mula. Sec. 203. Adjustment to the Social Security insurance contribution. Sec. 204. Social Security Trust Fund established. TITLE I—STRENGTHENING 1 BENEFITS 2 SEC. 101. ACROSS-THE-BOARD BENEFIT INCREASE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(a)(1)(A)(i) of the So- 4 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(a)(1)(A)(i)) is amended 5 by striking ‘‘90 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘93 percent’’. 6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendment made by 8 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to monthly 9 insurance benefits payable for any month after De- 10 cember 2019. 11 (2) RECOMPUTATION OF PRIMARY INSURANCE 12 AMOUNTS.—Notwithstanding section 215(f) of the 13 Social Security Act, the Commissioner of Social Se- 14 curity shall recompute primary insurance amounts 15 originally computed for months prior to January 16 2020 to the extent necessary to carry out the 17 amendments made by this section. 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 269 IS SEC. 102. MORE ACCURATE COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT 1 FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(i)(1) of the Social Se- 3 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(1)) is amended by adding 4 at the end the following new subparagraph: 5 ‘‘(H) the term ‘Consumer Price Index’ means 6 the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers 7 (CPI–E, as published by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 8 tistics of the Department of Labor).’’. 9 (b) APPLICATION TO PRE-1979 LAW.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(i)(1) of the So- 11 cial Security Act as in effect in December 1978, and 12 as applied in certain cases under the provisions of 13 such Act as in effect after December 1978, is 14 amended by adding at the end the following new 15 subparagraph: 16 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Consumer Price Index’ means 17 the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers 18 (CPI–E, as published by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 19 tistics of the Department of Labor).’’. 20 (2) CONFORMING CHANGE.—Section 215(i)(4) 21 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(4)) is 22 amended by inserting ‘‘and by section 102 of the So- 23 cial Security 2100 Act’’ after ‘‘1986’’. 24 (c) NO EFFECT ON ADJUSTMENTS UNDER OTHER 25 LAWS.—Section 215(i) of the Social Security Act (42 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 269 IS U.S.C. 415(i)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(6) Any provision of law (other than in this title, 3 title VIII, or title XVI) which provides for adjustment of 4 an amount based on a change in benefit amounts resulting 5 from a determination made under this subsection shall be 6 applied and administered without regard to the amend- 7 ments made by subsections (a) and (b) of section 102 of 8 the Social Security 2100 Act.’’. 9 (d) PUBLICATION OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR 10 ELDERLY CONSUMERS.—The Bureau of Labor Statistics 11 of the Department of Labor shall prepare and publish an 12 index for each calendar month to be known as the ‘‘Con- 13 sumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers’’ that indicates 14 changes over time in expenditures for consumption which 15 are typical for individuals in the United States who have 16 attained age 62. 17 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 18 this section shall apply to determinations made with re- 19 spect to cost-of-living computation quarters (as defined in 20 section 215(i)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 21 415(i)(1)(B))) ending on or after September 30 of the cal- 22 endar year in which this Act is enacted. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 269 IS SEC. 103. INCREASE IN MINIMUM BENEFIT FOR LIFETIME 1 LOW EARNERS BASED ON YEARS IN THE 2 WORKFORCE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(a)(1) of the Social 4 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(a)(1)) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub- 6 paragraph (E); and 7 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol- 8 lowing new subparagraph: 9 ‘‘(D)(i) Effective with respect to the benefits of indi- 10 viduals who become eligible for old-age insurance benefits 11 or disability insurance benefits (or die before becoming so 12 eligible) after 2019, no primary insurance amount com- 13 puted under subparagraph (A) may be less than the great- 14 er of— 15 ‘‘(I) the minimum monthly amount computed 16 under subparagraph (C); or 17 ‘‘(II) in the case of an individual who has more 18 than 10 years of work (as defined in clause (iv)(I)), 19 the alternative minimum amount determined under 20 clause (ii). 21 ‘‘(ii)(I) The alternative minimum amount determined 22 under this clause is the applicable percentage of 1⁄12 of 23 the annual dollar amount determined under clause (iii) for 24 the year in which the amount is determined. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 269 IS ‘‘(II) For purposes of subclause (I), the applicable 1 percentage is the percentage specified in connection with 2 the number of years of work, as set forth in the following 3 table: 4 ‘‘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) The annual dollar amount determined under 5 this clause is— 6 ‘‘(I) for calendar year 2020, the poverty guide- 7 line for 2019; and 8 ‘‘(II) for any calendar year after 2020, the an- 9 nual dollar amount for 2020 multiplied by the ratio 10 of— 11 ‘‘(aa) the national average wage index (as 12 defined in section 209(k)(1)) for the second cal- 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 269 IS endar year preceding the calendar year for 1 which the determination is made, to 2 ‘‘(bb) the national average wage index (as 3 so defined) for 2018. 4 ‘‘(iv) For purposes of this subparagraph— 5 ‘‘(I) the term ‘year of work’ means, with re- 6 spect to an individual, a year to which 4 quarters of 7 coverage have been credited based on such individ- 8 ual’s wages and self-employment income; and 9 ‘‘(II) the term ‘poverty guideline for 2019’ 10 means the annual poverty guideline for 2019 (as up- 11 dated annually in the Federal Register by the De- 12 partment of Health and Human Services under the 13 authority of section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget 14 Reconciliation Act of 1981) as applicable to a single 15 individual.’’. 16 (b) RECOMPUTATION.—Notwithstanding section 17 215(f)(1) of the Social Security Act, the Commissioner of 18 Social Security shall recompute primary insurance 19 amounts originally computed for months prior to Novem- 20 ber 2019 to the extent necessary to carry out the amend- 21 ments made by this section. 22 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 209(k)(1) 23 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 409(k)(1)) is amended by inserting 24 ‘‘215(a)(1)(E),’’ after ‘‘215(a)(1)(D),’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 269 IS SEC. 104. 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, $50,000, 21 ‘‘(2) $100,000 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 269 IS 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) HOSPITAL INSURANCE TRUST FUND HELD 5 HARMLESS.—Section 121(e)(1) of the Social Security 6 Amendments of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 401 note) is amended 7 by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 8 ‘‘(C) The amounts appropriated to the hospital 9 insurance trust fund by subparagraph (B) shall be 10 determined, and transferred from the general fund, 11 at such times and in such manner so as to replicate, 12 to the extent possible, the appropriations and trans- 13 fers which would have occurred with respect to such 14 trust fund had subsections (a) and (b) of section 15 104 of the Social Security 2100 Act not been en- 16 acted.’’. 17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 18 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 19 December 31, 2019. 20 SEC. 105. HOLDING SSI, MEDICAID, AND CHIP BENE- 21 FICIARIES HARMLESS. 22 For purposes of determining the income of an indi- 23 vidual to establish eligibility for, and the amount of, bene- 24 fits payable under title XVI of the Social Security Act, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 269 IS eligibility for medical assistance under the State plan 1 under title XIX (or a waiver of such plan), or eligibility 2 for child health assistance under the State child health 3 plan under title XXI (or a waiver of the plan), the amount 4 of any benefit to which the individual is entitled under 5 title II of such Act shall be deemed not to exceed the 6 amount of the benefit that would be determined for such 7 individual under such title as in effect on the day before 8 the date of the enactment of this Act. 9 TITLE II—STRENGTHENING THE 10 TRUST FUND 11 SEC. 201. DETERMINATION OF WAGES AND SELF-EMPLOY- 12 MENT INCOME ABOVE CONTRIBUTION AND 13 BENEFIT BASE AFTER 2019. 14 (a) DETERMINATION OF WAGES ABOVE CONTRIBU- 15 TION AND BENEFIT BASE AFTER 2019.— 16 (1) AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE 17 CODE.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of sec- 19 tion 3121(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 20 1986 is amended by inserting after ‘‘such cal- 21 endar year.’’ the following: ‘‘The preceding sen- 22 tence shall apply only to calendar years for 23 which the contribution and benefit base (as so 24 determined) is less than $400,000, and, for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Feb 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S269.IS S269 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 269 IS [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]