Protecting Our Widows and Widowers in Retirement Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3926 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to improve social security benefits for widows and widowers in two-income households. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 7, 2023 Ms. SA´NCHEZ (for herself, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. PINGREE) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend title II of the Social Security Act to improve social security benefits for widows and widowers in two- income households. 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 ‘‘Protecting Our Widows 4 and Widowers in Retirement Act’’ or the ‘‘POWR Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. IMPROVING SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS FOR WID- 6 OWS AND WIDOWERS IN TWO-INCOME HOUSE- 7 HOLDS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3926 IH (1) WIDOWS.—Section 202(e) of the Social Se- 1 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 402(e)) is amended— 2 (A) in paragraph (1)— 3 (i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 4 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 5 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(iii), by strik- 6 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end; 7 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D); 8 (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 9 (E) and (F) as subparagraphs (D) and 10 (E), respectively; and 11 (v) in the flush matter following sub- 12 paragraph (E)(ii), as so redesignated, by 13 striking ‘‘or becomes entitled to an old-age 14 insurance benefit’’ and all that follows 15 through ‘‘such deceased individual,’’; 16 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) in para- 17 graph (2) and inserting the following: 18 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subsection 19 (k)(5), subsection (q), and subparagraph (D) of this 20 paragraph, such widow’s insurance benefit for each 21 month shall be equal to the greater of— 22 ‘‘(i) the primary insurance amount (as de- 23 termined for purposes of this subsection after 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3926 IH application of subparagraphs (B) and (C)) of 1 such deceased individual; or 2 ‘‘(ii) subject to paragraph (9), in the case 3 of a fully insured widow or surviving divorced 4 wife, 75 percent of the sum of any old-age or 5 disability insurance benefit for which the widow 6 or the surviving divorced wife is entitled for 7 such month and the primary insurance amount 8 (as determined for purposes of this subsection 9 after application of subparagraphs (B) and (C)) 10 of such deceased individual.’’; 11 (C) in paragraph (5)— 12 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 13 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 14 graph (1)(E)’’; and 15 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 16 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)(i)’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘paragraph (1)(E)(i)’’; and 18 (D) by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(9) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(ii), the 20 amount determined under such paragraph shall not 21 exceed the primary insurance amount for such 22 month of a hypothetical individual— 23 ‘‘(A) who became entitled to old-age insur- 24 ance benefits upon attaining early retirement 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3926 IH age during the month in which the deceased in- 1 dividual referred to in paragraph (1) became 2 entitled to old-age or disability insurance bene- 3 fits, or died (before becoming entitled to such 4 benefits); and 5 ‘‘(B) to whom wages and self-employment 6 income were credited in each of such hypo- 7 thetical individual’s elapsed years (within the 8 meaning of section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii)) in an 9 amount equal to 11⁄3 of the national average 10 wage index (as described in section 209(k)(1)) 11 for each such year.’’. 12 (2) WIDOWERS.—Section 202(f) of the Social 13 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(f)) is amended— 14 (A) in paragraph (1)— 15 (i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 17 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(iii), by strik- 18 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end; 19 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D); 20 (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 21 (E) and (F) as subparagraphs (D) and 22 (E), respectively; and 23 (v) in the flush matter following sub- 24 paragraph (E)(ii), as so redesignated, by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3926 IH striking ‘‘or becomes entitled to an old-age 1 insurance benefit’’ and all that follows 2 through ‘‘such deceased individual,’’; 3 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) in para- 4 graph (2) and inserting the following: 5 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subsection 6 (k)(5), subsection (q), and subparagraph (D) of this 7 paragraph, such widower’s insurance benefit for 8 each month shall be equal to the greater of— 9 ‘‘(i) the primary insurance amount (as de- 10 termined for purposes of this subsection after 11 application of subparagraphs (B) and (C)) of 12 such deceased individual; or 13 ‘‘(ii) subject to paragraph (9), in the case 14 of a fully insured widower or surviving divorced 15 husband, 75 percent of the sum of any old-age 16 or disability insurance benefit for which the 17 widower or the surviving divorced husband is 18 entitled for such month and the primary insur- 19 ance amount (as determined for purposes of 20 this subsection after application of subpara- 21 graphs (B) and (C)) of such deceased indi- 22 vidual.’’; 23 (C) in paragraph (5)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3926 IH (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 1 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)’’ and inserting ‘‘para- 2 graph (1)(E)’’; and 3 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 4 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)(i)’’ and inserting 5 ‘‘paragraph (1)(E)(i)’’; and 6 (D) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(9) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(ii), the 8 amount determined under such paragraph shall not 9 exceed the primary insurance amount for such 10 month of a hypothetical individual— 11 ‘‘(A) who became entitled to old-age insur- 12 ance benefits upon attaining early retirement 13 age during the month in which the deceased in- 14 dividual referred to in paragraph (1) became 15 entitled to old-age or disability insurance bene- 16 fits, or died (before becoming entitled to such 17 benefits); and 18 ‘‘(B) to whom wages and self-employment 19 income were credited in each of such hypo- 20 thetical individual’s elapsed years (within the 21 meaning of section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii)) in an 22 amount equal to 11⁄3 of the national average 23 wage index (as described in section 209(k)(1)) 24 for each such year.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3926 IH (b) HOLDING SSI BENEFICIARIES HARMLESS.—For 1 purposes of determining the income of an individual to es- 2 tablish eligibility for, and the amount of, benefits payable 3 under title XVI of the Social Security Act, the amount 4 of any benefit to which the individual is entitled under 5 title II of such Act shall be deemed not to exceed the 6 amount of the benefit that would be determined for such 7 individual under such title as in effect on the day before 8 the date of the enactment of this Act. 9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 10 this section shall apply with respect to widow’s and wid- 11 ower’s insurance benefits payable for months after Decem- 12 ber 2023. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:05 Jul 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3926.IH H3926 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB