Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2753 To amend title XVI of the Social Security Act to update eligibility for the supplemental security income program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 30, 2019 Mr. BROWN (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. CASEY, and Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 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 SEC. 2. UPDATE IN ELIGIBILITY FOR THE SUPPLEMENTAL 6 SECURITY INCOME PROGRAM. 7 (a) UPDATE IN GENERAL INCOME EXCLUSION.— 8 Section 1612(b)(2)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2753.IS S2753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2753 IS U.S.C. 1382a(b)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘$240’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘$1,476 (increased as described in section 2 1617(d) for each calendar year after 2020)’’. 3 (b) UPDATE IN EARNED INCOME EXCLUSION.—Sec- 4 tion 1612(b)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382a(b)(4)) is 5 amended by striking ‘‘$780’’ each place it appears and 6 inserting ‘‘$4,788 (increased as described in section 7 1617(d) for each calendar year after 2020)’’. 8 (c) UPDATE IN RESOURCE LIMIT FOR INDIVIDUALS 9 AND COUPLES.—Section 1611(a)(3) of such Act (42 10 U.S.C. 1382(a)(3)) is amended— 11 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘$2,250’’ 12 and all that follows through the end of the subpara- 13 graph and inserting ‘‘$20,000 in calendar year 14 2020, and shall be increased as described in section 15 1617(d) for each subsequent calendar year.’’; and 16 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘$1,500’’ 17 and all that follows through the end of the subpara- 18 graph and inserting ‘‘$10,000 in calendar year 19 2020, and shall be increased as described in section 20 1617(d) for each subsequent calendar year.’’. 21 (d) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Section 1617 of such 22 Act (42 U.S.C. 1382f) is amended— 23 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘; IN- 24 FLATION ADJUSTMENT’’ after ‘‘BENEFITS’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2753.IS S2753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2753 IS (2) by adding at the end the following: 1 ‘‘(d) In the case of any calendar year after 2020, each 2 of the amounts specified in sections 1611(a)(3), 3 1612(b)(2)(A), and 1612(b)(4) shall be increased by mul- 4 tiplying each such amount by the quotient (not less than 5 1) obtained by dividing— 6 ‘‘(1) the average of the Consumer Price Index 7 for Elderly Consumers (CPI–E, as published by the 8 Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 9 Labor) for the 12-month period ending with Sep- 10 tember of the preceding calendar year, by 11 ‘‘(2) such average for the 12-month period end- 12 ing with September 2019.’’. 13 SEC. 3. SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE FURNISHED IN KIND 14 NOT INCLUDED AS INCOME. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1612(a)(2) of such Act 16 (42 U.S.C. 1382a(a)(2)) is amended— 17 (1) by inserting ‘‘(other than support or main- 18 tenance furnished in kind)’’ after ‘‘all other income’’; 19 and 20 (2) in subparagraph (A)— 21 (A) by striking ‘‘or kind’’; 22 (B) by striking clause (i) and redesig- 23 nating clauses (ii) and (iii) as clauses (i) and 24 (ii), respectively; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2753.IS S2753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2753 IS (C) in clause (ii) (as so redesignated), by 1 striking ‘‘and the provisions of clause (i) shall 2 not be applicable’’. 3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 4 (1) Section 1611(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5 1382(c)) is amended by striking paragraph (6) and 6 redesignating paragraphs (7) through (10) as para- 7 graphs (6) through (9), respectively. 8 (2) Section 1612(a)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 9 1382a(a)(2)) is amended— 10 (A) in subparagraph (F), by inserting 11 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 12 (B) in subparagraph (G), by striking ‘‘; 13 and’’ and inserting a period; 14 (C) by moving subparagraph (G) 2 ems to 15 the right; and 16 (D) by striking subparagraph (H). 17 (3) Section 1621(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 18 1382j(c)) is amended to read as follows: 19 ‘‘(c) In determining the amount of income of an alien 20 during the period of 5 years after such alien’s entry into 21 the United States, support or maintenance furnished in 22 cash to the alien by such alien’s sponsor (to the extent 23 that it reflects income or resources which were taken into 24 account in determining the amount of income and re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2753.IS S2753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2753 IS sources to be deemed to the alien under subsection (a) 1 or (b) of this section) shall not be considered to be income 2 of such alien under section 1612(a)(2)(A).’’. 3 SEC. 4. REPEAL OF PENALTY FOR DISPOSAL OF RE- 4 SOURCES FOR LESS THAN FAIR MARKET 5 VALUE. 6 Section 1613(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382b(c)) is 7 amended to read as follows: 8 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION OF MEDICAID POLICY RESTRICT- 9 ING ELIGIBILITY OF INSTITUTIONALIZED INDIVIDUALS 10 FOR BENEFITS BASED ON DISPOSAL OF RESOURCES FOR 11 LESS THAN FAIR MARKET VALUE.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the time an individual 13 (and the individual’s eligible spouse, if any) applies 14 for benefits under this title, and at the time the eli- 15 gibility of an individual (and such spouse, if any) for 16 such benefits is redetermined, the Commissioner of 17 Social Security shall— 18 ‘‘(A) inform such individual of the provi- 19 sions of section 1917(c) providing for a period 20 of ineligibility for benefits under title XIX for 21 individuals who make certain dispositions of re- 22 sources for less than fair market value, and in- 23 form such individual that information obtained 24 pursuant to subparagraph (B) will be made 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2753.IS S2753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2753 IS available to the State agency administering a 1 State plan under title XIX (as provided in 2 paragraph (2)); and 3 ‘‘(B) obtain from such individual informa- 4 tion which may be used by the State agency in 5 determining whether or not a period of ineligi- 6 bility for such benefits would be required by 7 reason of section 1917(c). 8 ‘‘(2) PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO STATE 9 MEDICAID AGENCIES.—The Commissioner of Social 10 Security shall make the information obtained under 11 paragraph (1)(B) available, on request, to any State 12 agency administering a State plan approved under 13 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. 1382f(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 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2753.IS S2753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2753 IS 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), (a)(2)(A), and (b)(1)’’. 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 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2753.IS S2753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2753 IS (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 January 1, 2020. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2753.IS S2753 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS