Protecting Our Widows and Widowers in Retirement (POWR) Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1540 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to improve social security benefits for widows and widowers in two-income households. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 5, 2019 Ms. SA´NCHEZ (for herself, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Ms. NORTON, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mrs. DINGELL, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. MOORE, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. POCAN, Mr. CA´RDENAS, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) 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. 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 ‘‘Protecting Our Widows 4 and Widowers in Retirement (POWR) Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1540.IH H1540 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1540 IH SEC. 2. IMPROVING SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS FOR WID- 1 OWS AND WIDOWERS IN TWO-INCOME HOUSE- 2 HOLDS. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.— 4 (1) WIDOWS.—Section 202(e) of the Social Se- 5 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 402(e)) is amended— 6 (A) in paragraph (1)— 7 (i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 8 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 9 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(iii), by strik- 10 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end; 11 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D); 12 (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 13 (E) and (F) as subparagraphs (D) and 14 (E), respectively; and 15 (v) in the flush matter following sub- 16 paragraph (E)(ii), as so redesignated, by 17 striking ‘‘or becomes entitled to an old-age 18 insurance benefit’’ and all that follows 19 through ‘‘such deceased individual,’’; 20 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) in para- 21 graph (2) and inserting the following: 22 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subsection 23 (k)(5), subsection (q), and subparagraph (D) of this 24 paragraph, such widow’s insurance benefit for each 25 month shall be equal to the greater of— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1540.IH H1540 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1540 IH ‘‘(i) subject to paragraph (9), the primary 1 insurance amount (as determined for purposes 2 of this subsection after application of subpara- 3 graphs (B) and (C)) of such deceased indi- 4 vidual; or 5 ‘‘(ii) subject to paragraphs (9) and (10), in 6 the case of a fully insured widow or surviving 7 divorced wife, 75 percent of the sum of any old- 8 age or disability insurance benefit for which the 9 widow or the surviving divorced wife is entitled 10 for such month and the primary insurance 11 amount (as determined for purposes of this 12 subsection after application of subparagraphs 13 (B) and (C)) of such deceased individual.’’; 14 (C) in paragraph (5)— 15 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 16 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 17 graph (1)(E)’’; and 18 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 19 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)(i)’’ and inserting 20 ‘‘paragraph (1)(E)(i)’’; and 21 (D) by adding at the end the following new 22 paragraphs: 23 ‘‘(9) For purposes of clauses (i) and (ii) of 24 paragraph (2)(A), in the case of a surviving divorced 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1540.IH H1540 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1540 IH wife, the amount determined under either such 1 clause (and, for purposes of clause (ii) of paragraph 2 (2)(A), as determined after application of paragraph 3 (10)) shall be equal to the applicable percentage (as 4 determined under section 202(b)(2)(B)) of such 5 amount (as determined before application of this 6 paragraph but after application of subsection 7 (k)(3)). 8 ‘‘(10) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(ii), the 9 amount determined under such paragraph shall not 10 exceed the primary insurance amount for such 11 month of a hypothetical individual— 12 ‘‘(A) who became entitled to old-age insur- 13 ance benefits upon attaining early retirement 14 age during the month in which the deceased in- 15 dividual referred to in paragraph (1) became 16 entitled to old-age or disability insurance bene- 17 fits, or died (before becoming entitled to such 18 benefits); and 19 ‘‘(B) to whom wages and self-employment 20 income were credited in each of such hypo- 21 thetical individual’s elapsed years (within the 22 meaning of section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii)) in an 23 amount equal to 11⁄3 of the national average 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1540.IH H1540 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1540 IH wage index (as described in section 209(k)(1)) 1 for each such year.’’. 2 (2) WIDOWERS.—Section 202(f) of the Social 3 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(f)) is amended— 4 (A) in paragraph (1)— 5 (i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 6 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 7 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(iii), by strik- 8 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end; 9 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D); 10 (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 11 (E) and (F) as subparagraphs (D) and 12 (E), respectively; and 13 (v) in the flush matter following sub- 14 paragraph (E)(ii), as so redesignated, by 15 striking ‘‘or becomes entitled to an old-age 16 insurance benefit’’ and all that follows 17 through ‘‘such deceased individual,’’; 18 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) in para- 19 graph (2) and inserting the following: 20 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subsection 21 (k)(5), subsection (q), and subparagraph (D) of this 22 paragraph, such widower’s insurance benefit for 23 each month shall be equal to the greater of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1540.IH H1540 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1540 IH ‘‘(i) subject to paragraph (9), the primary 1 insurance amount (as determined for purposes 2 of this subsection after application of subpara- 3 graphs (B) and (C)) of such deceased indi- 4 vidual; or 5 ‘‘(ii) subject to paragraphs (9) and (10), in 6 the case of a fully insured widower or surviving 7 divorced husband, 75 percent of the sum of any 8 old-age or disability insurance benefit for which 9 the widower or the surviving divorced husband 10 is entitled for such month and the primary in- 11 surance amount (as determined for purposes of 12 this subsection after application of subpara- 13 graphs (B) and (C)) of such deceased indi- 14 vidual.’’; 15 (C) in paragraph (5)— 16 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 17 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 18 graph (1)(E)’’; and 19 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 20 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)(i)’’ and inserting 21 ‘‘paragraph (1)(E)(i)’’; and 22 (D) by adding at the end the following new 23 paragraphs: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1540.IH H1540 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1540 IH ‘‘(9) For purposes of clauses (i) and (ii) of 1 paragraph (2)(A), in the case of a surviving divorced 2 husband, the amount determined under either such 3 clause (and, for purposes of clause (ii) of paragraph 4 (2)(A), as determined after application of paragraph 5 (10)) shall be equal to the applicable percentage (as 6 determined under section 202(c)(2)(B)) of such 7 amount (as determined before application of this 8 paragraph but after application of subsection 9 (k)(3)). 10 ‘‘(10) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(ii), the 11 amount determined under such paragraph shall not 12 exceed the primary insurance amount for such 13 month of a hypothetical individual— 14 ‘‘(A) who became entitled to old-age insur- 15 ance benefits upon attaining early retirement 16 age during the month in which the deceased in- 17 dividual referred to in paragraph (1) became 18 entitled to old-age or disability insurance bene- 19 fits, or died (before becoming entitled to such 20 benefits); and 21 ‘‘(B) to whom wages and self-employment 22 income were credited in each of such hypo- 23 thetical individual’s elapsed years (within the 24 meaning of section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii)) in an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1540.IH H1540 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1540 IH amount equal to 11⁄3 of the national average 1 wage index (as described in section 209(k)(1)) 2 for each such year.’’. 3 (b) HOLDING SSI BENEFICIARIES HARMLESS.—For 4 purposes of determining the income of an individual to es- 5 tablish eligibility for, and the amount of, benefits payable 6 under title XVI of the Social Security Act, the amount 7 of any benefit to which the individual is entitled under 8 title II of such Act shall be deemed not to exceed the 9 amount of the benefit that would be determined for such 10 individual under such title as in effect on the day before 11 the date of the enactment of this Act. 12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 13 this section shall apply with respect to widow’s and wid- 14 ower’s insurance benefits payable for months after Decem- 15 ber 2019. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1540.IH H1540 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS