Guaranteed 3 Percent COLA for Seniors Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1923 To require the establishment of a Consumer Price Index for Elderly Con- sumers to compute cost-of-living increases for Social Security benefits under title II of the Social Security Act and to provide, in the case of elderly beneficiaries under such title, for an annual cost-of-living increase which is not less than 3 percent. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 20, 2019 Mr. WHITEHOUSE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To require the establishment of a Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers to compute cost-of-living increases for Social Security benefits under title II of the Social Security Act and to provide, in the case of elderly bene- ficiaries under such title, for an annual cost-of-living increase which is not less than 3 percent. 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 ‘‘Guaranteed 3 Percent 4 COLA for Seniors Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1923.IS S1923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1923 IS SEC. 2. CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR ELDERLY CON- 1 SUMERS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau of Labor Statistics 3 of the Department of Labor shall prepare and publish an 4 index for each calendar month to be known as the ‘‘Con- 5 sumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers’’ that indicates 6 changes over time in expenditures for consumption which 7 are typical for individuals in the United States who are 8 62 years of age or older. 9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall apply 10 with respect to calendar months ending on or after July 11 31 of the calendar year following the calendar year in 12 which this Act is enacted. 13 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 14 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec- 15 essary to carry out the provisions of this section. 16 SEC. 3. COMPUTATION OF COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(i) of the Social Secu- 18 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)) is amended— 19 (1) in paragraph (1)(G), by inserting before the 20 period the following: ‘‘, and, solely with respect to 21 any monthly insurance benefit payable under this 22 title to an individual who has attained age 62, effec- 23 tive for adjustments under this subsection to the pri- 24 mary insurance amount on which such benefit is 25 based (or to any such benefit under section 227 or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1923.IS S1923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1923 IS 228) occurring after such individual attains such 1 age, the applicable Consumer Price Index shall be 2 the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers 3 and such primary insurance amount shall be ad- 4 justed under this subsection using such Index’’; 5 (2) in paragraph (2)(A)(ii), by adding at the 6 end the following: ‘‘In the case of individuals re- 7 ferred to in subdivision (I) or (II) who have attained 8 age 62, irrespective of whether the Commissioner 9 makes a determination described in the first sen- 10 tence of this clause with respect to the base quarter 11 in any year, effective for adjustments under this 12 subsection to the primary insurance amount on 13 which such individual’s monthly insurance benefit is 14 based occurring after such individual attains such 15 age (or to any such benefit under section 227 or 16 228), the Commissioner shall, effective with the 17 month of December of such year, increase benefit 18 amounts and primary insurance amounts of such in- 19 dividuals under this clause as if such base quarter 20 were a cost of living computation quarter and the 21 applicable increase percentage with respect to such 22 base quarter were equal to the greater of 3 percent 23 or the applicable increase percentage (if any) with 24 respect to such base quarter.’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1923.IS S1923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1923 IS (3) in paragraph (4)— 1 (A) by striking ‘‘and by section 9001’’ and 2 inserting ‘‘, by section 9001’’; and 3 (B) by inserting after ‘‘1986,’’ the fol- 4 lowing: ‘‘and by section 3 of the Guaranteed 3 5 Percent COLA for Seniors Act of 2019,’’. 6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS IN APPLICABLE 7 FORMER LAW.—Section 215(i) of such Act, as in effect 8 in December 1978 and applied in certain cases under the 9 provisions of such Act in effect after December 1978, is 10 amended— 11 (1) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting before the 12 period the following: ‘‘, and, solely with respect to 13 any monthly insurance benefit payable under this 14 title to an individual who has attained age 62, effec- 15 tive for adjustments under this subsection to the pri- 16 mary insurance amount on which such benefit is 17 based (or to any such benefit under section 227 or 18 228) occurring after such individual attains such 19 age, the applicable Consumer Price Index shall be 20 the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers 21 and such primary insurance amount shall be ad- 22 justed under this subsection using such Index’’; and 23 (2) by adding at the end of paragraph 24 (2)(A)(ii) the following: ‘‘In the case of individuals 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1923.IS S1923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1923 IS referred to in the first sentence of this clause who 1 have attained age 62, irrespective of whether the 2 Commissioner makes a determination described in 3 the first sentence of this clause with respect to the 4 base quarter in any year, effective for adjustments 5 under this subsection to the primary insurance 6 amount on which such individual’s monthly insur- 7 ance benefit is based occurring after such individual 8 attains such age (or to any such benefit under sec- 9 tion 227 or 228), the Commissioner shall, effective 10 with the month of December of such year, increase 11 benefit amounts and primary insurance amounts of 12 such individuals under this clause as if such base 13 quarter were a cost of living computation quarter 14 and the percentage referred to in the first sentence 15 of this clause with respect to such base quarter were 16 equal to the greater of 3 percent or the percentage 17 (if any) otherwise referred to in the first sentence of 18 this clause with respect to such base quarter.’’. 19 (c) PROTECTION OF BENEFITS SUBJECT TO THE 20 FAMILY MAXIMUM.—Section 203(a) of the Social Security 21 Act (42 U.S.C. 403(a)) is amended by adding at the end 22 the following new paragraph: 23 ‘‘(11) In determining whether total monthly benefits 24 based on any primary insurance amount exceed the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1923.IS S1923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1923 IS amount permitted under this subsection, the Commis- 1 sioner shall disregard the portion of any benefit otherwise 2 payable to any beneficiary under this title which is attrib- 3 utable to so much of any increases in benefits which would 4 not have occurred but for the application of the last sen- 5 tence of section 215(i)(2)(A)(ii) (or the last sentence of 6 section 215(i)(2)(A)(ii) as in effect in December 1978 (as 7 amended) and applied in certain cases under the provi- 8 sions of such Act in effect after December 1978).’’. 9 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section and the 10 amendments made thereby shall not be construed as a 11 general benefit increase for purposes of section 215(i) of 12 the Social Security Act (and section 215(i) of such Act 13 as in effect in December 1978 and applied in certain cases 14 under the provisions of such Act in effect after December 15 1978). 16 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 17 this section shall apply to determinations made with re- 18 spect to base quarters ending on or after September 30 19 of the second calendar year following the calendar year 20 in which this Act is enacted. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jun 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1923.IS S1923 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS