Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4280 To amend title XVI of the Social Security Act to update eligibility for the supplemental security income program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MOORE, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. SIRES, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mrs. WAT- SON COLEMAN, Mr. COHEN, Ms. SLOTKIN, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. LEE of California, and Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend title XVI of the Social Security Act to update eligibility for the supplemental security income program, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Supplemental Security 4 Income Restoration Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4280.IH H4280 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4280 IH SEC. 2. UPDATE IN ELIGIBILITY FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL 1 SECURITY INCOME PROGRAM. 2 (a) UPDATE IN GENERAL INCOME EXCLUSION.— 3 Section 1612(b)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 4 U.S.C. 1382a(b)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘$240’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘$1,476 (increased as described in section 6 1617(d) for each calendar year after 2020)’’. 7 (b) UPDATE IN EARNED INCOME EXCLUSION.—Sec- 8 tion 1612(b)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382a(b)(4)) is 9 amended by striking ‘‘$780’’ each place it appears and 10 inserting ‘‘$4,788 (increased as described in section 11 1617(d) for each calendar year after 2020)’’. 12 (c) UPDATE IN RESOURCE LIMIT FOR INDIVIDUALS 13 AND COUPLES.—Section 1611(a)(3) of such Act (42 14 U.S.C. 1382(a)(3)) is amended— 15 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘$2,250’’ 16 and all that follows through the end of the subpara- 17 graph and inserting ‘‘$20,000 in calendar year 18 2020, and shall be increased as described in section 19 1617(d) for each subsequent calendar year.’’; and 20 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘$1,500’’ 21 and all that follows through the end of the subpara- 22 graph and inserting ‘‘$10,000 in calendar year 23 2020, and shall be increased as described in section 24 1617(d) for each subsequent calendar year.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4280.IH H4280 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4280 IH (d) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Section 1617 of such 1 Act (42 U.S.C. 1382f) is amended— 2 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘; infla- 3 tion adjustment’’ after ‘‘benefits’’; and 4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(d) In the case of any calendar year after 2020, each 6 of the amounts specified in sections 1611(a)(3), 7 1612(b)(2)(A), and 1612(b)(4) shall be increased by mul- 8 tiplying each such amount by the quotient (not less than 9 1) obtained by dividing— 10 ‘‘(1) the average of the Consumer Price Index 11 for Elderly Consumers (CPI–E, as published by the 12 Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 13 Labor) for the 12-month period ending with Sep- 14 tember of the preceding calendar year, by 15 ‘‘(2) such average for the 12-month period end- 16 ing with September 2019.’’. 17 SEC. 3. SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE FURNISHED IN KIND 18 NOT INCLUDED AS INCOME. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1612(a)(2) of such Act 20 (42 U.S.C. 1382a(a)(2)) is amended— 21 (1) by inserting ‘‘(other than support or main- 22 tenance furnished in kind)’’ after ‘‘all other income’’; 23 and 24 (2) in subparagraph (A)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4280.IH H4280 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4280 IH (A) by striking ‘‘or kind’’; 1 (B) by striking clause (i) and redesig- 2 nating clauses (ii) and (iii) as clauses (i) and 3 (ii), respectively; and 4 (C) in clause (ii) (as so redesignated), by 5 striking ‘‘and the provisions of clause (i) shall 6 not be applicable’’. 7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 8 (1) Section 1611(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 9 1382(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (6) and 10 redesignating paragraphs (7) through (10) as para- 11 graphs (6) through (9), respectively. 12 (2) Section 1612(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 13 1382a(a)(2)) is amended— 14 (A) in subparagraph (F), by inserting 15 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 16 (B) in subparagraph (G), by striking ‘‘; 17 and’’ and inserting a period; 18 (C) by moving subparagraph (G) 2 ems to 19 the right; and 20 (D) by striking subparagraph (H). 21 (3) Section 1621(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 22 1382j(c)) is amended to read as follows: 23 ‘‘(c) In determining the amount of income of an alien 24 during the period of 5 years after such alien’s entry into 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4280.IH H4280 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4280 IH the United States, support or maintenance furnished in 1 cash to the alien by such alien’s sponsor (to the extent 2 that it reflects income or resources which were taken into 3 account in determining the amount of income and re- 4 sources to be deemed to the alien under subsection (a) 5 or (b) of this section) shall not be considered to be income 6 of such alien under section 1612(a)(2)(A).’’. 7 SEC. 4. REPEAL OF PENALTY FOR DISPOSAL OF RE- 8 SOURCES FOR LESS THAN FAIR MARKET 9 VALUE. 10 Section 1613(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382b(c)) is 11 amended to read as follows: 12 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION OF MEDICAID POLICY RESTRICT- 13 ING ELIGIBILITY OF INSTITUTIONALIZED INDIVIDUALS 14 FOR BENEFITS BASED ON DISPOSAL OF RESOURCES FOR 15 LESS THAN FAIR MARKET VALUE.—(1) At the time an 16 individual (and the individual’s eligible spouse, if any) ap- 17 plies for benefits under this title, and at the time the eligi- 18 bility of an individual (and such spouse, if any) for such 19 benefits is redetermined, the Commissioner of Social Secu- 20 rity shall— 21 ‘‘(A) inform such individual of the provisions of 22 section 1917(c) providing for a period of ineligibility 23 for benefits under title XIX for individuals who 24 make certain dispositions of resources for less than 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4280.IH H4280 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4280 IH fair market value, and inform such individual that 1 information obtained pursuant to subparagraph (B) 2 will be made available to the State agency admin- 3 istering a State plan under title XIX (as provided in 4 paragraph (2)); and 5 ‘‘(B) obtain from such individual information 6 which may be used by the State agency in deter- 7 mining whether or not a period of ineligibility for 8 such benefits would be required by reason of section 9 1917(c). 10 ‘‘(2) The Commissioner of Social Security shall make 11 the information obtained under paragraph (1)(B) avail- 12 able, on request, to any State agency administering a 13 State plan approved under title XIX.’’. 14 SEC. 5. REPEAL OF MARRIAGE PENALTY. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1611(b)(2) of the Social 16 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382(b)(2)) is amended by strik- 17 ing ‘‘payable at the rate of’’ and all that follows through 18 the end of the paragraph and inserting ‘‘payable— 19 ‘‘(A) for calendar years 1974 through 2019, at 20 the rate of $2,628 (or, if greater, the amount deter- 21 mined under section 1617); and 22 ‘‘(B) for calendar year 2020 and any calendar 23 year thereafter, at twice the rate applicable for such 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4280.IH H4280 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4280 IH calendar year under paragraph (1) for an individual 1 who does not have an eligible spouse, 2 reduced by the amount of income, not excluded pursuant 3 to section 1612(b), of such individual and spouse.’’. 4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1617(a)(1) 5 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382(a)(1)) is amended by striking 6 ‘‘subsections (a)(1)(A), (a)(2)(A), (b)(1), and (b)(2)’’ and 7 inserting ‘‘subsections (a)(1)(A) and (a)(2)(A)’’. 8 SEC. 6. CLARIFYING THE TREATMENT OF CERTAIN STATE 9 TAX CREDITS. 10 Title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 11 1382a) is amended— 12 (1) in section 1612(b)(19), by striking ‘‘and 13 any payment’’ and all that follows through ‘‘credit)’’ 14 and inserting ‘‘and any refund of State income taxes 15 made to such individual (or such spouse) by reason 16 of a State earned income tax credit (as defined by 17 the Secretary)’’; and 18 (2) in section 1613(a)(11)— 19 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, 20 and any refund of State income taxes made to 21 such individual (or such spouse) by reason of a 22 State child tax credit (as defined by the Sec- 23 retary)’’ before the semicolon; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4280.IH H4280 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4280 IH (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and 1 any payment’’ and all that follows through 2 ‘‘credit)’’ and inserting ‘‘and any refund of 3 State income taxes made to such individual (or 4 such spouse) by reason of a State earned in- 5 come tax credit (as defined by the Secretary)’’. 6 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 7 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 8 on the date that is 6 months after the date of the enact- 9 ment of this Act. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:18 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4280.IH H4280 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS