Social Security: Bills in the 107th Congress

CRS Report for Congress
th
Social Security: Bills in the 107 Congress
Geoffrey Kollmann
Specialist in Social Legislation
Domestic Social Policy Division
Summary
This report lists the bills that were introduced in the 107^th Congress that directly
affected the Social Security program, and provides a summary table listed by subject.
Social Security Bills Introduced in the 107^th Congress
Two hundred and nine bills were introduced in the 107^th Congress that directly or
indirectly affected the Social Security program. This report lists those that directly
affected old-age and survivors insurance benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act.
It first describes those bills on which legislative action has occurred. It then presents a
table that includes bills that would reform the system or otherwise address its financing
problems, change its budget status, or increase or reduce benefits, and groups them into
categories reflecting their general purpose. Footnotes to the table list reports from the
Congressional Research Service that discuss the bills or subject matter.
Bills on Which Legislative Action Has Occurred
H.R. 2 (Herger) Reserves Social Security and Medicare surpluses for debt
reduction until reform is passed. Passed House, February 13, 2001, by a vote of 407-2.
H.Con.Res. 282 (Shaw) Expresses the sense of the Congress that Social Security
reform legislation should guarantee current-law benefits to current and future retirees,
without raising taxes. Passed House, December 12, 2001, by a vote of 415-5.
H.R. 4069 (Shaw) Makes miscellaneous enhancements in Social Security spousal
benefits. Passed House, May 14, 2002, by a vote of 418-0.
H.R. 4070 (Shaw) Provides additional safeguards for Social Security and
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients with representative payees and enhances
other program protections. Passed House, June 26, 2002, by a vote of 425-0. Passed
Senate, November 18, 2002, by voice vote.
Table 1. Social Security Bills in 107^th Congress

Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

General purpose of bill
Creates voluntary or
Attempts to enhancemandatory personalCreates personal accounts,
solvency or income of^aaccounts in place of part or^abut does not alter current
current systemall of current systemsystem
H.R. 2771KolbeH.R. 849SessionsH.R. 2110Petri
H.R. 2935FrankH.R. 2771KolbeS. 2693Dorgan
H.R. 3315DeFazioH.R. 3497Shaw
H.R. 3497ShawH.R. 3535DeMint
H.R. 3535DeMintH.R. 4022Matsui
H.R. 4023MatsuiH.R. 4023Matsui
H.R. 4024MatsuiH.R. 4024Matsui
H.R. 5252WaxmanH.R. 5734N. Smith
S.5Gramm
Alters Social Security’s
Alters system’s investment^bbudget treatment^cLiberalizes or ends Social^d
policies(including “lock box” bills)Security earnings test
H.R. 96HallH.R. 2HergerH.R. 1731Sessions
H.R. 166RoyceH.R. 56RossH.R. 3497Shaw
H.R. 219PaulH.R. 120Holt
H.R. 1320SaboH.R. 373Rogers
H.R. 3315DeFazioH.R. 560Ross
H.R. 816Andrews
H.R. 1065Andrews
H.R. 1204Adam Smith
H.R. 1207Bartlett
S. 21Daschle
Alters Social Security’sDeals with Social SecurityAddresses Social Security^e
disability provisionsnumbers and privacy“notch” issue
H.R. 344FrankH.R. 220PaulH.R. 80Emerson
H.R. 481StarkH.R. 2036ShawH.R. 97Hall
H.R. 498EhrlichH.R. 4513MarkeyH.R. 853Wexler
H.R. 509MinkS. 848FeinsteinH.R. 870Clement
H.R. 569AndrewsS. 1014BunningS. 825Reid
H.R. 2850DealS. 1055Feinstein
H.R. 3133CantorS. 3100Feinstein
H.R. 3265Platts
H.R. 5667G. Green
S. 682McCain
S. 2942Crapo

General purpose of bill
Alters Social Security taxes
for purposes other than toEstablishes bi-partisanRestores benefits for
restore solvencySocial Security commissioncollege students
H.R. 1573OwensH.R. 14PortmanH.R. 410Andrews
H.R. 1069DeMint
Expresses sense ofLiberalizes benefits for
Repeals some/all of taxation^fCongress about Socialspouses, children, and^g
of Social Security benefitsSecurity issuechildcare givers
H.R. 122S. JohnsonH.R. 4780MatsuiH.R. 319Allen
H.R. 192StumpH.R. 5541ShowsH.R. 2698Andrews
H.R. 209SweeneyH.Res. 128DeLauroH.R. 3023Duncan
H.R. 1018ToomeyH.Res. 425ThurmanH.R. 3325Lowey
H.R. 1532WeinerH.Res. 493JeffersonH.R. 3326Lowey
H.R. 2106LarsonH.J.Res. 26G. TaylorH.R. 3327Lowey
H.R. 2548DoolittleH.C.Res. 120 Mark GreenH.R. 3328Lowey
H.R. 4789PaulH.C.Res. 214 ShawH.R. 3315DeFazio
H.R. 4790PaulH.C.Res. 229 GravesH.R. 3497Shaw
H.R. 5568WeldonH.C.Res. 282 ShawH.R. 4069Shaw
S. 181ShelbyH.Res. 128 DeLauroH.R. 4671Matsui
S. 237 HutchinsonS.Res. 230CorzineH.R. 4743Lowey
S.J.Res. 2GrammS. 2533G. Smith
Liberalizes “windfall”^hLiberalizes “governmentⁱAuthorizes benefits for the^j
benefits provisionpension offset” provisionmonth of death
H.R. 848SandlinH.R. 664JeffersonH.R. 210Sweeney
H.R. 1073FrankH.R. 2638McKeonH.R. 1091Mink
H.R. 2638McKeonH.R. 3497ShawH.R. 1464Holden
S. 1523FeinsteinS. 611MikulskiH.R. 2845Andrews
S. 2521KerryS. 1523FeinsteinH.R. 5404Russell
S. 882Mikulski
Makes changes toRequires that Social
Expands eligibility forrepresentative payee^lSecurity benefits be made a
lump sum death benefitprovisions“legal guarantee”
H.R. 266DuncanH.R. 3332ShawH.R. 832W. Jones
H.R. 2378ClementH.R. 4070ShawH.R. 3135DeMint
H.R. 3119HastingsS. 693GrassleyS. 806Hutchinson
S. 1558Santorum
Alters COLAs by Revising
Consumer Price Index^kDenies benefits to fugitive^mReduces “user fee” assessed
(CPI)felons on attorneys
H.R. 390WeinerS. 2387SantorumS. 2700Lincoln
H.R. 2035SandersH.R. 4070ShawH.R. 4070Shaw
^Source:^D^e^ri^v^e^{d f}^r^om^on^-^lⁱⁿ^e^L^e^gi^s^l^atⁱ^{ve Inf}^o^r^m^atⁱ^{on Sys}^t^em^{; bills}ⁱⁿ^trodu^{ced as}^of^Nov^e^m^b^{er 20, 2002.}^a
^F^o^{r di}^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^on^{, s}^{ee C}^R^S^Is^s^u^{e Bri}^e^f^IB98048,^S^o^c^ia^{l S}^ecu^{rity Refo}^rm^.^b
^F^o^r^dⁱ^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^oⁿ^,^s^e^e^C^R^S^R^e^p^o^r^t^R^S²^0607,^S^o^cⁱ^a^{l S}^ecu^rity^:^T^r^us^t^{Fund Inves}^t^m^ent^Pr^actⁱ^ces^,^aⁿ^d^CRS
^R^e^port^91-^129,^Soci^a^l^Securⁱ^t^y^{: Inves}^tⁱ^{ng t}^h^{e Sur}^pl^us^.

^c^F^o^{r di}^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^on^{, s}^{ee C}^R^S^R^e^port^R^S^20165,^Soci^a^l^Securⁱ^t^y^{, M}^e^di^car^e^{, and Publ}ⁱ^c^D^e^bt^Reductⁱ^on^“^L^o^ck
^Boxes^,”^aⁿ^d^C^R^S^R^e^p^o^r^t⁹⁸^-^422,^S^o^cⁱ^a^l^Securⁱ^t^y^{and t}^h^{e Feder}^a^l^Budget^:^W^hat^D^o^es^Soci^a^l
^Securⁱ^t^y^Bei^{ng “}^O^f^f^Budget^”^M^e^an?^d
^F^o^{r di}^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^on^{, s}^{ee C}^R^S^R^e^port^98-^789,^S^o^c^ia^{l S}^ecu^rity^:^Pr^opos^{ed C}^hanges^t^o^t^h^{e Ear}ⁿⁱ^ngs^T^e^s^t^.^e
^F^o^{r di}^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^on^{, s}^{ee C}^R^S^R^e^port^95-^188,^Th^{e S}^o^c^ia^{l S}^ecu^{rity No}^tch^I^ssu^e^.^f
^F^o^{r di}^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^on^{, s}^{ee C}^R^S^R^e^port^R^L^30581,^S^o^c^ia^{l S}^ecu^rity^:^Ta^xa^tioⁿ^o^f^Ben^e^fits^.^g
^F^o^{r di}^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^on^{, s}^{ee C}^R^S^R^e^port^R^S^21228,^{Social Secur}^{ity Benefit Enhancem}^ents^for^W^o^{men Act of 2002.}
^h^F^o^{r di}^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^on^{, s}^{ee C}^R^S^R^e^port^98-^35,^Th^{e W}ⁱⁿ^d^f^a^{ll Ben}^e^{fit Pro}^v^isioⁿ^.ⁱ
^F^o^{r di}^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^on^{, s}^{ee C}^R^S^R^e^port^R^S^20148,^S^o^c^ia^{l S}^ecu^rity:^Th^{e Go}^vern^m^en^{t Pen}^s^ioⁿ^Offset.^j
^F^o^{r di}^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^on^{, s}^{ee C}^R^S^R^e^port^93-^792,^S^o^c^ia^l^S^ecu^rity^Ben^e^fits^Are^No^{t Pa}^id^Fo^{r th}^{e Mo}ⁿ^t^h^o^f^Dea^t^h^.^k
^F^o^r^di^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^on^{, s}^{ee C}^R^S^R^e^port^R^S^20060,^{A Separ}^at^{e C}^ons^um^er^Prⁱ^{ce Index}^f^o^r^t^h^e^El^der^l^y?^aⁿ^d^CRS
^R^e^port^97-^33,^T^h^{e C}^P^{I and t}^h^{e “}^T^r^ue”^C^os^t^of^Lⁱ^vi^ng.^l
^F^o^{r di}^s^c^u^s^sⁱ^on^{, s}^{ee C}^R^S^R^e^port^R^S^21225,^Soci^a^l^Securⁱ^t^y^Pr^ot^ectⁱ^{on Act}^of^{2002 (}^H^{.R. 4070)}^.^m
^F^o^{r di}^sc^ussi^oⁿ^,^se^{e C}^R^S^R^e^port^R^S^20325,^Effor^t^s^{to Pr}^{event Pr}^is^oner^s^{and Fugitives}^fr^{om Receiving}
^Ben^e^{fits fro}^m^th^{e S}^o^c^ia^{l S}^ecu^{rity Ad}^minⁱ^stra^tioⁿ^.