Social Security Enhancement and Protection Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5392 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to make various reforms to Social Security, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 11, 2019 Ms. MOORE (for herself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend title II of the Social Security Act to make various reforms to Social Security, 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 ‘‘Social Security En- 4 hancement and Protection Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN SPECIAL MINIMUM BENEFIT FOR 6 LIFETIME LOW EARNERS BASED ON YEARS IN 7 THE WORKFORCE. 8 Section 215(a)(1)(C) of the Social Security Act (42 9 U.S.C. 415(a)(1)(C)) is amended to read as follows: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5392.IH H5392 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5392 IH ‘‘(C)(i) Effective with respect to the benefits of indi- 1 viduals who become eligible for old-age insurance benefits 2 or disability insurance benefits (or die before becoming so 3 eligible) after 2019, no primary insurance amount com- 4 puted under subparagraph (A) may be less than the appli- 5 cable percentage of 1⁄12 of the annual dollar amount deter- 6 mined under clause (iv) for the year in which the amount 7 is determined. 8 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of clause (i), the applicable per- 9 centage is the percentage specified in connection with the 10 number of years of work, as set forth in the following 11 table: 12 ‘‘If the number of The applicable years of work is: percentage is: 11 ...................................................................................... 36.7 percent 12 ...................................................................................... 40.0 percent 13 ...................................................................................... 43.3 percent 14 ...................................................................................... 46.7 percent 15 ...................................................................................... 50.0 percent 16 ...................................................................................... 53.3 percent 17 ...................................................................................... 56.7 percent 18 ...................................................................................... 60.0 percent 19 ...................................................................................... 63.3 percent 20 ...................................................................................... 66.7 percent 21 ...................................................................................... 70.0 percent 22 ...................................................................................... 73.3 percent 23 ...................................................................................... 76.7 percent 24 ...................................................................................... 80.0 percent 25 ...................................................................................... 83.3 percent 26 ...................................................................................... 86.7 percent 27 ...................................................................................... 90.0 percent 28 ...................................................................................... 93.3 percent 29 ...................................................................................... 96.7 percent 30 or more ........................................................................ 100.0 percent. ‘‘(iii) The annual dollar amount determined under 13 this clause is— 14 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5392.IH H5392 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5392 IH ‘‘(I) for calendar year 2020, the poverty guide- 1 line for 2019; and 2 ‘‘(II) for any calendar year after 2020, the an- 3 nual dollar amount for 2020 multiplied by the ratio 4 of— 5 ‘‘(aa) the national average wage index (as 6 defined in section 209(k)(1)) for the second cal- 7 endar year preceding the calendar year for 8 which the determination is made, to 9 ‘‘(bb) the national average wage index (as 10 so defined) for 2018. 11 ‘‘(iv) For purposes of this subparagraph— 12 ‘‘(I) the term ‘number of years of work’ means, 13 with respect to an individual, the sum of— 14 ‘‘(aa) 1⁄4 of the total number of quarters of 15 coverage credited to such individual (dis- 16 regarding any fraction); and 17 ‘‘(bb) the number of years (not exceeding 18 5) in all of which the individual provided care 19 for a child under 6 years of age who resided in 20 the individual’s home; and 21 ‘‘(II) the term ‘poverty guideline for 2019’ 22 means the annual poverty guideline for 2019 (as up- 23 dated annually in the Federal Register by the De- 24 partment of Health and Human Services under the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5392.IH H5392 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5392 IH authority of section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget 1 Reconciliation Act of 1981) as applicable to a single 2 individual’’. 3 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INCREASED BENEFIT FOR 4 BENEFICIARIES ON ACCOUNT OF LONG-TERM 5 ELIGIBILITY. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202 of the Social Security 7 Act (42 U.S.C. 402) is amended by adding at the end the 8 following new subsection: 9 ‘‘(aa) INCREASE IN BENEFIT AMOUNTS ON ACCOUNT 10 OF LONG-TERM ELIGIBILITY.—(1) In the case of an indi- 11 vidual who is a qualified beneficiary for a calendar year 12 after 2019, the amount of any monthly insurance benefit 13 of such qualified beneficiary under this section or section 14 223 for any month in such calendar year shall be in- 15 creased in accordance with paragraph (3). 16 ‘‘(2)(A) For purposes of this subsection, the term 17 ‘qualified beneficiary’ for a calendar year means an indi- 18 vidual in any case in which such calendar year begins at 19 least 16 years after the applicable date of eligibility for 20 such individual. 21 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this subsection, the applicable 22 date of eligibility for an individual is the date on which 23 the individual on whose wages and self-employment in- 24 come the monthly insurance benefit is based initially be- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5392.IH H5392 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5392 IH came eligible (or died before becoming eligible) for old- 1 age insurance benefits under subsection (a) or disability 2 insurance benefits under section 223. 3 ‘‘(3)(A) The increase required under paragraph (1) 4 with respect to the monthly insurance benefit of an indi- 5 vidual who is a qualified beneficiary for a calendar year 6 shall be equal to the applicable percentage (specified for 7 such benefit in subparagraph (B)) of the full increase 8 amount for such calendar year (determined under sub- 9 paragraph (C)). 10 ‘‘(B) The applicable percentage specified for a 11 monthly insurance benefit under this subparagraph for a 12 calendar year is the percentage specified, in connection 13 with the number of years ending after the applicable date 14 of eligibility for such individual and before such calendar 15 year, in the following table: 16 The applicable ‘‘If the number of years is: percentage is: 16 ...................................................................................... 20 percent 17 ...................................................................................... 40 percent 18 ...................................................................................... 60 percent 19 ...................................................................................... 80 percent 20 or larger ....................................................................... 100 percent. ‘‘(C)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), the full in- 17 crease amount determined under this subparagraph for a 18 calendar year in connection with the monthly insurance 19 benefit of a qualified beneficiary is a dollar amount equal 20 to 5 percent of the amount of the benefit if— 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5392.IH H5392 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5392 IH ‘‘(I) such benefit were based on the primary in- 1 surance amount determined for January of such cal- 2 endar year of a putative individual; 3 ‘‘(II) on January 1 of the calendar year in 4 which occurred the applicable eligibility date with re- 5 spect to such individual, such putative individual 6 were fully insured, attained retirement age (as de- 7 fined in section 216(l)(2)) and were otherwise eligi- 8 ble for, and applied for, old-age insurance benefits; 9 and 10 ‘‘(III) such putative individual’s average in- 11 dexed monthly earnings taken into account in deter- 12 mining such primary insurance amount were equal 13 to 1⁄12 of the national average wage index (as de- 14 fined in section 209(k)(1)) for the second year prior 15 to such calendar year. 16 ‘‘(ii)(I) In the case of a monthly insurance benefit 17 under subsection (b) or (c), the full increase amount deter- 18 mined under this subparagraph shall be one-half the 19 amount determined under clause (i); or 20 ‘‘(II) in the case of a monthly insurance benefit under 21 subsection (d), (g), or (h), the full increase amount deter- 22 mined under this subparagraph shall be the percentage of 23 the amount determined under clause (i) equal to the ratio 24 which the amount of such benefit bears to the primary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5392.IH H5392 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 5392 IH insurance amount (before the application of section 1 203(a)) of the individual on whose wages and self-employ- 2 ment income the monthly insurance benefit is based. 3 ‘‘(4) In the case of a qualified beneficiary who is enti- 4 tled to two or more monthly insurance benefits under this 5 title for the same month— 6 ‘‘(A) the earliest applicable date of eligibility for 7 such beneficiary with respect to such benefits shall 8 be treated as the applicable date of eligibility for 9 such beneficiary for the purposes of this subsection; 10 and 11 ‘‘(B) such beneficiary shall be entitled to an in- 12 crease with respect only to one such benefit. 13 ‘‘(5) This subsection shall be applied to monthly in- 14 surance benefits after any increase under subsection (w) 15 and any applicable reductions and deductions under this 16 title. 17 ‘‘(6) In any case in which an individual is entitled 18 to benefits under both this section and section 223, the 19 increase under this subsection shall be paid from the Fed- 20 eral Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund.’’. 21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 22 (1) Section 202 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 402) is 23 amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5392.IH H5392 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 5392 IH (A) in the last sentence of subsection (a), 1 by striking ‘‘subsection (q) and subsection (w)’’ 2 and inserting ‘‘subsections (q), (w), and (aa)’’; 3 (B) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘sub- 4 sections (k)(5) and (q)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub- 5 sections (k)(5), (q), and (aa)’’; 6 (C) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘sub- 7 sections (k)(5) and (q)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub- 8 sections (k)(5), (q), and (aa)’’; 9 (D) in subsection (d)(2), by adding at the 10 end the following: ‘‘This paragraph shall apply 11 subject to subsection (aa).’’; 12 (E) in subsection (e)(2)(A), by striking 13 ‘‘subsection (k)(5), subsection (q), and subpara- 14 graph (D) of this paragraph’’ and inserting 15 ‘‘subsection (k)(5), subsection (q), subsection 16 (aa), and subparagraph (D) of this paragraph’’; 17 (F) in subsection (f)(2)(A), by striking 18 ‘‘subsection (k)(5), subsection (q), and subpara- 19 graph (D) of this paragraph’’ and inserting 20 ‘‘subsection (k)(5), subsection (q), subsection 21 (aa), and subparagraph (D) of this paragraph’’; 22 (G) in subsection (g)(2), by striking 23 ‘‘Such’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 24 subsections (k)(5) and (aa), such’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5392.IH H5392 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 5392 IH (H) in subsection (h)(2)(A), by inserting 1 ‘‘and subsection (aa)’’ after ‘‘subparagraphs 2 (B) and (C)’’; and 3 (I) in section 223(a)(2), by striking ‘‘sec- 4 tion 202(q)’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 202(q) and 5 202(aa)’’. 6 (2) Section 209(k)(1) of such Act (402 U.S.C. 7 409(k)(1)) is amended by inserting 8 ‘‘202(aa)(3)(C)(i)(II),’’ before ‘‘203(f)(8)(B)(ii)’’. 9 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF CHILD’S BENEFIT FOR FULL-TIME 10 POST-SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS 11 UNDER AGE 26. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(d)(1)(B) of the So- 13 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)(1)(B)) is amended to 14 read as follows: 15 ‘‘(B) at the time such application was filed 16 was unmarried and— 17 ‘‘(i) had not attained the age of 18, 18 ‘‘(ii) was a full-time elementary or 19 secondary school student and had not at- 20 tained the age of 19, 21 ‘‘(iii) was a full-time post-secondary 22 school student and had not attained the 23 age of 26, or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5392.IH H5392 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 5392 IH ‘‘(iv) is under a disability (as defined 1 in section 223(d)) which began before he 2 attained the age of 22, and’’. 3 (b) DEFINITION OF FULL-TIME POST-SECONDARY 4 SCHOOL STUDENT.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(d)(7) of such 6 Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)(7)) is amended— 7 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 8 (i) by inserting ‘‘and a ‘full-time post- 9 secondary school student’ is an individual 10 who is in full-time attendance as a student 11 at a post-secondary educational institu- 12 tion’’ before ‘‘, as determined by the Com- 13 missioner’’; 14 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or a ‘full-time post- 15 secondary school student’ ’’ before ‘‘if he is 16 paid by his employer’’; 17 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or a post-secondary 18 educational institution, as applicable,’’ be- 19 fore ‘‘at the request’’; 20 (iv) by inserting ‘‘or a ‘full-time post- 21 secondary school student’ ’’ before ‘‘for the 22 purpose of this section’’; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 66 [Text truncated for display. 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