Social Security for Future Generations Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4121 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to enhance Social Security benefits and maintain the commitment and the long-term solvency of the Social Security program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2019 Mr. LAWSON of Florida (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, and Ms. WIL- SON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak- er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju- risdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title II of the Social Security Act to enhance Social Security benefits and maintain the commitment and the long-term solvency of the Social Security pro- gram. 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 for Fu- 4 ture Generations Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4121.IH H4121 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4121 IH SEC. 2. PAYROLL TAX ON WAGES AND SELF-EMPLOYMENT 1 INCOME UP TO CONTRIBUTION AND BENEFIT 2 BASE AND MORE THAN $250,000. 3 (a) DETERMINATION OF WAGES ABOVE CONTRIBU- 4 TION AND BENEFIT BASE AFTER 2019.— 5 (1) AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE 6 CODE.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of sec- 8 tion 3121(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 9 1986 is amended by inserting after ‘‘such cal- 10 endar year.’’ the following: ‘‘The preceding sen- 11 tence shall apply only to calendar years for 12 which the contribution and benefit base (as so 13 determined) is less than $250,000, and, for 14 such calendar years, only to the extent remu- 15 neration paid to such employee by such em- 16 ployer with respect to employment does not ex- 17 ceed $250,000.’’. 18 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Para- 19 graph (1) of section 3121(a) of the Internal 20 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 21 ‘‘Act) to’’ and inserting ‘‘Act), or in excess of 22 $250,000, to’’. 23 (2) AMENDMENT TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY 24 ACT.—Section 209(a)(1)(I) of the Social Security 25 Act (42 U.S.C. 409(a)(1)(I)) is amended by insert- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4121.IH H4121 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4121 IH ing before the semicolon at the end the following: 1 ‘‘except that this subparagraph shall apply only to 2 calendar years for which the contribution and ben- 3 efit base (as so determined) is less than $250,000, 4 and, for such calendar years, only to the extent re- 5 muneration paid to such employee by such employer 6 with respect to employment does not exceed 7 $250,000’’. 8 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 9 by this subsection shall apply with respect to remu- 10 neration paid in calendar years after 2019. 11 (b) DETERMINATION OF SELF-EMPLOYMENT IN- 12 COME ABOVE CONTRIBUTION AND BENEFIT BASE AFTER 13 2019.— 14 (1) AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE 15 CODE.— 16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of sec- 17 tion 1402(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 18 1986 is amended to read as follows: 19 ‘‘(1) in the case of the tax imposed by section 20 1401(a), an amount equal to— 21 ‘‘(A) $250,000, reduced (but not below 22 zero) by 23 ‘‘(B) the sum of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4121.IH H4121 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4121 IH ‘‘(i) the part of the net earnings from 1 self-employment (if any) which is not in 2 excess of— 3 ‘‘(I) the amount equal to the con- 4 tribution and benefit base (as deter- 5 mined under section 230 of the Social 6 Security Act) which is effective for the 7 calendar year in which such taxable 8 year begins, minus 9 ‘‘(II) the amount of the wages 10 paid to such individual during such 11 taxable year, plus 12 ‘‘(ii) the amount of the wages paid to 13 such individual during such taxable year 14 which is in excess of the amount in clause 15 (i)(I); or’’. 16 (B) PHASEOUT.—Subsection (b) of section 17 1402 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 18 amended by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘Paragraph (1) shall apply only to taxable 20 years beginning in calendar years for which the 21 contribution and benefit base (as determined 22 under section 230 of the Social Security Act) is 23 less than $250,000.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4121.IH H4121 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4121 IH (2) AMENDMENTS TO THE SOCIAL SECURITY 1 ACT.— 2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 211(b)(1) of 3 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 411(b)) is 4 amended— 5 (i) in subparagraph (I)— 6 (I) by inserting ‘‘and before 7 2019’’ after ‘‘1974’’; and 8 (II) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 9 and 10 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘(J) For any taxable year beginning in any 13 calendar year after 2019, an amount equal to— 14 ‘‘(i) $250,000, reduced (but not below 15 zero) by 16 ‘‘(ii) the sum of— 17 ‘‘(I) the part of the net earnings 18 from self-employment (if any) which is 19 not in excess of— 20 ‘‘(aa) the amount equal to 21 the contribution and benefit base 22 (as determined under section 23 230) which is effective for the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4121.IH H4121 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4121 IH calendar year in which such tax- 1 able year begins, minus 2 ‘‘(bb) the amount of the 3 wages paid to such individual 4 during such taxable year, plus 5 ‘‘(II) the amount of the wages 6 paid to such individual during such 7 taxable year which is in excess of the 8 amount in subclause (I)(aa); or’’. 9 (B) PHASEOUT.—Section 211(b) of the 10 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 411(b)) is 11 amended by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘Paragraph (1) shall apply only to taxable 13 years beginning in calendar years for which the 14 contribution and benefit base (as determined 15 under section 230) is less than $250,000.’’. 16 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 17 by this subsection shall apply to net earnings from 18 self-employment derived, and remuneration paid, in 19 calendar years after 2019. 20 SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF EARNINGS OVER $250,000 IN SOCIAL 21 SECURITY BENEFIT FORMULA. 22 (a) INCLUSION OF EARNINGS OVER $250,000 IN DE- 23 TERMINATION OF PRIMARY INSURANCE AMOUNTS.—Sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4121.IH H4121 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4121 IH tion 215(a)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1 415(a)(1)(A)) is amended— 2 (1) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 3 (2) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the 4 end; and 5 (3) by inserting after clause (iii) the following: 6 ‘‘(iv) 2 percent of the individual’s excess aver- 7 age indexed monthly earnings (as defined in sub- 8 section (b)(5)(A)).’’. 9 (b) DEFINITION OF EXCESS AVERAGE INDEXED 10 MONTHLY EARNINGS.—Section 215(b) of the Social Secu- 11 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 415(b)) is amended— 12 (1) by striking ‘‘wages’’ and ‘‘self-employment 13 income’’ each place such terms appear and inserting 14 ‘‘basic wages’’ and ‘‘basic self-employment income’’, 15 respectively; and 16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(5)(A) An individual’s excess average indexed 18 monthly earnings shall be equal to the amount of the indi- 19 vidual’s average indexed monthly earnings that would be 20 determined under this subsection by substituting ‘excess 21 wages’ for ‘basic wages’ and ‘excess self-employment in- 22 come’ for ‘basic self-employment income’ each place such 23 terms appear in this subsection (except in this paragraph). 24 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this subsection— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4121.IH H4121 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4121 IH ‘‘(i) the term ‘basic wages’ means that portion 1 of the wages of an individual paid in a year that 2 does not exceed the contribution and benefit base for 3 the year; 4 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘basic self-employment income’ 5 means that portion of the self-employment income of 6 an individual credited to a year that does not exceed 7 an amount equal to the contribution and benefit 8 base for the year minus the amount of the wages 9 paid to the individual in the year; 10 ‘‘(iii) the term ‘excess wages’ means that por- 11 tion of the wages of an individual paid in a year 12 after 2019 in excess of the higher of $250,000 or 13 the contribution and benefit base for the year; and 14 ‘‘(iv) the term ‘excess self-employment income’ 15 means that portion of the self-employment income of 16 an individual credited to a year after 2019 in excess 17 of the higher of $250,000 or such contribution and 18 benefit base.’’. 19 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 215(e)(1) 20 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(e)(1)) is amend- 21 ed by inserting ‘‘and before 2019’’ after ‘‘after 1974’’. 22 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 23 this section shall apply with respect to individuals who ini- 24 tially become eligible (within the meaning of section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4121.IH H4121 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4121 IH 215(a)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act) for old-age or dis- 1 ability insurance benefits under title II of the Social Secu- 2 rity Act, or who die (before becoming eligible for such ben- 3 efits), in any calendar year after 2019. 4 SEC. 4. COMPUTATION OF COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(i)(1) of the Social Se- 6 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(1)) is amended by adding 7 at the end the following new subparagraph: 8 ‘‘(H) the term ‘Consumer Price Index’ means 9 the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers 10 (CPI–E, as published by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 11 tistics of the Department of Labor).’’. 12 (b) APPLICATION TO PRE-1979 LAW.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(i)(1) of the So- 14 cial Security Act as in effect in December 1978, and 15 as applied in certain cases under the provisions of 16 such Act as in effect after December 1978, is 17 amended by adding at the end the following new 18 subparagraph: 19 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Consumer Price Index’ means 20 the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers 21 (CPI–E, as published by the Bureau of Labor Sta- 22 tistics of the Department of Labor).’’. 23 (2) CONFORMING CHANGE.—Section 215(i)(4) 24 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(4)) is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4121.IH H4121 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4121 IH amended by inserting ‘‘and by section 4 of the Social 1 Security for Future Generations Act of 2019’’ after 2 ‘‘1986’’. 3 (c) NO EFFECT ON ADJUSTMENTS UNDER OTHER 4 LAWS.—Section 215(i) of the Social Security Act (42 5 U.S.C. 415(i)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(6) Any provision of law (other than in this title, 8 title VIII, or title XVI) which provides for adjustment of 9 an amount based on a change in benefit amounts resulting 10 from a determination made under this subsection shall be 11 applied and administered without regard to the amend- 12 ments made by section 4 of the Social Security for Future 13 Generations Act of 2019.’’. 14 (d) PUBLICATION OF CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR 15 ELDERLY CONSUMERS.—The Bureau of Labor Statistics 16 of the Department of Labor shall prepare and publish the 17 index authorized by section 191 of the Older Americans 18 Amendments Act of 1987 (29 U.S.C. 2 note) for each cal- 19 endar month, beginning with July of the calendar year fol- 20 lowing the calendar year in which this Act is enacted, and 21 such index shall be known as the ‘‘Consumer Price Index 22 for Elderly Consumers’’. 23 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 24 subsection (a) shall apply to determinations made with re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4121.IH H4121 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4121 IH spect to cost-of-living computation quarters (as defined in 1 section 215(i)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 2 415(i)(1)(B))) ending on or after September 30 of the sec- 3 ond calendar year following the calendar year in which this 4 Act is enacted. 5 SEC. 5. EXTENDED BENEFIT ELIGIBILITY FOR CHILDREN 6 WHO ARE FULL-TIME STUDENTS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(d) of the Social Secu- 8 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)) is amended— 9 (1) in paragraphs (1)(B), (1)(E), (1)(F)(i), 10 (1)(G)(ii), (6)(A), (6)(D), (6)(E)(i), (7)(A), (7)(B), 11 and (7)(D), by striking ‘‘full-time elementary or sec- 12 ondary school student’’ each place it appears and in- 13 serting ‘‘full-time student’’; 14 (2) in paragraphs (1)(B), (1)(F)(ii), (1)(G)(iii), 15 (6)(A), (6)(D), (6)(E)(ii), and (7)(D), by striking 16 ‘‘19’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘23’’; 17 (3) in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (D) of para- 18 graph (7), by striking ‘‘elementary or secondary 19 school’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘edu- 20 cational institution’’; 21 (4) in paragraph (7)(A), by striking ‘‘schools 22 involved’’ and inserting ‘‘institutions involved’’; 23 (5) in paragraph (7), by amending subpara- 24 graph (C) to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4121.IH H4121 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4121 IH ‘‘(C) For purposes of this subsection, the 1 term ‘educational institution’ means— 2 ‘‘(i) a school which provides elemen- 3 tary or secondary education as determined 4 under the law of the State or other juris- 5 diction in which it is located; and 6 ‘‘(ii) an institution described in sec- 7 tion 102 of the Higher Education Act of 8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002).’’; and 9 (6) in paragraph (7)(D), by striking ‘‘diploma 10 or equivalent certificate from a secondary school (as 11 defined in subparagraph (C)(i))’’ and inserting ‘‘di- 12 ploma, degree, or equivalent certificate from an in- 13 stitution described in subparagraph (C)(ii)’’. 14 (b) RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(d) of the Railroad 16 Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 232(2)(d)) is 17 amended— 18 (A) in clause (iii) of paragraph (1), by 19 striking ‘‘will be less than nineteen years of age 20 and a full-time elementary or secondary school 21 s [Text truncated for display. 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