Social Security Expansion Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 478 To enhance Social Security benefits and ensure the long-term solvency of the Social Security program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 13, 2019 Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BOOKER, and Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To enhance Social Security benefits and ensure the long- term solvency of the Social Security program. 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 ‘‘Social Security Expansion Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Across-the-board benefit increase. Sec. 3. Computation of cost-of-living increases. Sec. 4. Increase in minimum benefit for lifetime low earners based on years in the workforce. Sec. 5. Extended benefit eligibility for children who are full-time students. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S478.IS S478 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 478 IS Sec. 6. Payroll tax on remuneration up to contribution and benefit base and more than $250,000. Sec. 7. Tax on net earnings from self-employment up to contribution and ben- efit base and more than $250,000. Sec. 8. Tax on investment gain. Sec. 9. Social Security Trust Fund established. SEC. 2. ACROSS-THE-BOARD BENEFIT INCREASE. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(a)(1)(B) of the So- 2 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(a)(1)(B)) is amended— 3 (1) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause (iv); 4 and 5 (2) by inserting after clause (ii) the following 6 new clause: 7 ‘‘(iii) For individuals who initially become eligi- 8 ble for old-age or disability insurance benefits, or 9 who die (before becoming eligible for such benefits) 10 in any calendar year after 2024, each of the 11 amounts determined under clause (ii) of this sub- 12 paragraph for purposes of subparagraph (A)(i) shall 13 be increased by— 14 ‘‘(I) for calendar year 2025, 1 percent; 15 ‘‘(II) for each of calendar years 2026 16 through 2038, the percent determined under 17 this clause for the preceding year increased by 18 1 percentage point; and 19 ‘‘(III) for calendar year 2039 and each 20 year thereafter, 15 percent.’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S478.IS S478 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 478 IS (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Clause (iv) of sec- 1 tion 215(a)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 2 415(a)(1)(B)), as redesignated by subsection (a), is 3 amended by inserting ‘‘(after the application of clause 4 (iii), when applicable)’’ after ‘‘clause (ii)’’. 5 SEC. 3. COMPUTATION OF COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(i)(1) of the Social Se- 7 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(1)) is amended by adding 8 at the end the following new subparagraph: 9 ‘‘(H) the term ‘Consumer Price Index’ means 10 the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers 11 (CPI–E, as published by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 12 tistics of the Department of Labor).’’. 13 (b) APPLICATION TO PRE-1979 LAW.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(i)(1) of the So- 15 cial Security Act as in effect in December 1978, and 16 as applied in certain cases under the provisions of 17 such Act as in effect after December 1978, is 18 amended by adding at the end the following new 19 subparagraph: 20 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Consumer Price Index’ means 21 the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers 22 (CPI–E, as published by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 23 tistics of the Department of Labor).’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S478.IS S478 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 478 IS (2) CONFORMING CHANGE.—Section 215(i)(4) 1 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(4)) is 2 amended— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘and by section 9001’’ and 4 inserting ‘‘, section 9001’’; and 5 (B) by inserting ‘‘and section 3 of the So- 6 cial Security Expansion Act,’’ after ‘‘1986,’’. 7 (c) NO EFFECT ON ADJUSTMENTS UNDER OTHER 8 LAWS.—Section 215(i) of the Social Security Act (42 9 U.S.C. 415(i)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(6) Any provision of law (other than in this title, 12 title VIII, or title XVI) which provides for adjustment of 13 an amount based on a change in benefit amounts resulting 14 from a determination made under this subsection shall be 15 applied and administered without regard to the amend- 16 ments made by section 3 of the Social Security Expansion 17 Act, and, for purposes of making such an adjustment 18 under such a provision, this subsection as in effect on the 19 day before the date of enactment of such Act shall con- 20 tinue to apply.’’. 21 (d) PUBLICATION OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR 22 ELDERLY CONSUMERS.—The Bureau of Labor Statistics 23 of the Department of Labor shall prepare and publish the 24 index authorized by section 191 of the Older Americans 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S478.IS S478 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 478 IS Amendments Act of 1987 (29 U.S.C. 2 note) for each cal- 1 endar month, beginning with July of the calendar year fol- 2 lowing the calendar year in which this Act is enacted, and 3 such index shall be known as the ‘‘Consumer Price Index 4 for Elderly Consumers’’. 5 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 6 subsection (a) shall apply to determinations made with re- 7 spect to cost-of-living computation quarters (as defined in 8 section 215(i)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 9 415(i)(1)(B))) ending on or after September 30 of the sec- 10 ond calendar year following the calendar year in which this 11 Act is enacted. 12 SEC. 4. INCREASE IN MINIMUM BENEFIT FOR LIFETIME 13 LOW EARNERS BASED ON YEARS IN THE 14 WORKFORCE. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(a)(1) of the Social 16 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(a)(1)) is amended— 17 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub- 18 paragraph (E); and 19 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol- 20 lowing new subparagraph: 21 ‘‘(D)(i) Effective with respect to the benefits of indi- 22 viduals who become eligible for old-age insurance benefits 23 or disability insurance benefits (or die before becoming so 24 eligible) after 2019, no primary insurance amount com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S478.IS S478 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 478 IS puted under subparagraph (A) may be less than the great- 1 er of— 2 ‘‘(I) the minimum monthly amount computed 3 under subparagraph (C); or 4 ‘‘(II) in the case of an individual who has more 5 than 10 years of work (as defined in clause (iv)(I)), 6 the alternative minimum amount determined under 7 clause (ii). 8 ‘‘(ii)(I) The alternative minimum amount determined 9 under this clause is the applicable percentage of 1⁄12 of 10 the annual dollar amount determined under clause (iii) for 11 the year in which the amount is determined. 12 ‘‘(II) For purposes of subclause (I), the applicable 13 percentage is the percentage specified in connection with 14 the number of years of work, as set forth in the following 15 table: 16 ‘‘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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S478.IS S478 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 478 IS ‘‘If the number of years The applicable of work is: percentage is: 28 ...................................................................................... 112.50 percent 29 ...................................................................................... 118.75 percent 30 or more ........................................................................ 125.00 percent. ‘‘(iii) The annual dollar amount determined under 1 this clause is— 2 ‘‘(I) for calendar year 2020, the poverty guide- 3 line for 2019; and 4 ‘‘(II) for any calendar year after 2020, the an- 5 nual dollar amount for 2020 multiplied by the ratio 6 of— 7 ‘‘(aa) the national average wage index (as 8 defined in section 209(k)(1)) for the second cal- 9 endar year preceding the calendar year for 10 which the determination is made, to 11 ‘‘(bb) the national average wage index (as 12 so defined) for 2018. 13 ‘‘(iv) For purposes of this subparagraph— 14 ‘‘(I) the term ‘year of work’ means, with re- 15 spect to an individual, a year to which 4 quarters of 16 coverage have been credited based on such individ- 17 ual’s wages and self-employment income; and 18 ‘‘(II) the term ‘poverty guideline for 2019’ 19 means the annual poverty guideline for 2019 (as up- 20 dated annually in the Federal Register by the De- 21 partment of Health and Human Services under the 22 authority of section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S478.IS S478 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 478 IS Reconciliation Act of 1981) as applicable to a single 1 individual.’’. 2 (b) RECOMPUTATION.—Notwithstanding section 3 215(f)(1) of the Social Security Act, the Commissioner of 4 Social Security shall recompute primary insurance 5 amounts originally computed for months prior to Novem- 6 ber 2018 to the extent necessary to carry out the amend- 7 ments made by this section. 8 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 209(k)(1) 9 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 409(k)(1)) is amended by inserting 10 ‘‘215(a)(1)(E),’’ after ‘‘215(a)(1)(D),’’. 11 SEC. 5. EXTENDED BENEFIT ELIGIBILITY FOR CHILDREN 12 WHO ARE FULL-TIME STUDENTS. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(d) of the Social 15 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)) is amended— 16 (A) in paragraph (1)— 17 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 18 (I) by striking ‘‘or (ii)’’ and in- 19 serting ‘‘(ii)’’; and 20 (II) by inserting ‘‘or (iii) was the 21 child of an individual entitled to dis- 22 ability insurance benefits or of an in- 23 dividual who dies a fully or currently 24 insured individual and was a full-time 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S478.IS S478 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 478 IS student at an educational institution 1 and had not attained the age of 22,’’ 2 after ‘‘22,’’; 3 (ii) in subparagraph (E)— 4 (I) by striking ‘‘and (ii)’’ and in- 5 serting ‘‘(ii)’’; and 6 (II) by inserting ‘‘and (iii) is not 7 a full-time student at an educational 8 institution during any part of such 9 month (in the case of a child who is 10 the child of an individual entitled to 11 disability insurance benefits or of an 12 individual who dies a fully or cur- 13 rently insured individual)’’ before the 14 comma at the end; 15 (iii) in subparagraph (F), by striking 16 clauses (i) and (ii) and inserting the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(i) in the case of a child who is the child 19 of an individual entitled to old-age insurance 20 benefits— 21 ‘‘(I) the first month during no part of 22 which the child is a full-time elementary or 23 secondary school student, or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S478.IS S478 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 478 IS ‘‘(II) the month in which the child at- 1 tains the age of 19, and 2 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a child who is the child 3 of an individual entitled to disability insurance 4 benefits or of an individual who dies a fully or 5 currently insured individual— 6 ‘‘(I) the first month during no part of 7 which the child is a full-time student at an 8 educational institution, or 9 ‘‘(II) the month in which the child at- 10 tains the age of 22,’’; and 11 (iv) in subparagraph (G), by striking 12 clauses (ii) and (iii) and inserting the fol- 13 lowing: 14 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a child who is the child 15 of an individual entitled to old-age insurance 16 benefits— 17 ‘‘(I) the first month during no part of 18 which the child is a full-time elementary or 19 secondary school student, or 20 ‘‘(II) the month in which the child at- 21 tains the age of 19, and 22 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a child who is the child 23 of an individual entitled to disability insurance 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:24 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S478.IS S478 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 478 IS benefits or of an individual who dies a fully or 1 currently insured individual— 2 ‘‘(I) the first month during no part of 3 which the child is a full-time student at an 4 educational institution, or 5 ‘‘(II) the month in which the child at- 6 tains the age of 22,’’; 7 (B) in paragraph (6)— 8 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 9 (I) by striking ‘‘or (ii)’’ and in- 10 serting ‘‘(ii)’’; and 11 (II) b [Text truncated for display. 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