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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5603 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5603

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the threshold 
 amounts for inclusion of Social Security benefits in income, and for 
                            other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            December 19 (legislative day, December 16), 2024

Mrs. Blackburn (for herself and Mr. Marshall) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the threshold 
 amounts for inclusion of Social Security benefits in income, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Reducing Excessive Taxation and 
Inefficiencies by Reforming Elder Exemptions to Support Fairness, 
Inflation Relief, and Simpler Taxes Act'' or the ``RETIREES FIRST 
Act''.

SEC. 2. INCREASE IN THRESHOLD AMOUNTS FOR INCLUSION OF SOCIAL SECURITY 
              BENEFITS IN INCOME.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 86 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) In General.--Gross income for the taxable year of any 
taxpayer described in subsection (b) (notwithstanding section 207 of 
the Social Security Act) includes Social Security benefits in an amount 
equal to the lesser of--
            ``(1) 85 percent of the Social Security benefits received 
        during the taxable year, or
            ``(2) 85 percent of the excess described in subsection 
        (b)(1).''.
    (b) Base Amount.--Subsection (c) of section 86 of such Code is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(c) Base Amount.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the term 
        `base amount' means--
                    ``(A) except as otherwise provided in this 
                subsection, $34,000,
                    ``(B) $68,000 in the case of a joint return, and
                    ``(C) zero in the case of a taxpayer who--
                            ``(i) is married as of the close of the 
                        taxable year (within the meaning of section 
                        7703) but does not file a joint return for such 
                        year, and
                            ``(ii) does not live apart from his spouse 
                        at all times during the taxable year.
            ``(2) Inflation adjustment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In the case of any taxable year 
                beginning after 2024, each of the dollar amounts in 
                paragraph (1) shall be increased by an amount equal 
                to--
                            ``(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by
                            ``(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment 
                        determined under section 1(f)(3) for the 
                        calendar year, determined by substituting 
                        `calendar year 2023' for `calendar year 2016' 
                        in subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof.
                    ``(B) Rounding.--If any amount determined under 
                subparagraph (A) is not a multiple of $1,000, such 
                amount shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of 
                $1,000.''.
    (c) Social Security Trust Funds Held Harmless.--There are hereby 
appropriated (out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated) for each fiscal year to each fund under the Social 
Security Act or the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 an amount equal to 
the reduction in the transfers to such fund for such fiscal year by 
reason of the amendments made by this section.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.

SEC. 3. REALLOCATING NON-SECURITY DISCRETIONARY APPROPRIATIONS TO 
              SUPPORT RETIREE TAX RELIEF.

    (a) Rescission.--Subject to subsection (c), for fiscal year 2026, 
and each fiscal year thereafter, effective on the day after the date on 
which appropriations are made available through September 30 of the 
applicable fiscal year for the entire Federal Government, there is 
rescinded an amount equal to the total cost for such fiscal year, on a 
pro rata basis, from amounts made available through regular 
appropriation Acts.
    (b) Regular Appropriation Act.--For purposes of this section, the 
term ``regular appropriation Act''--
            (1) means an annual appropriation Act (as described in 
        section 105 of title 1, United States Code) providing new 
        budget authority (as defined in section 3 of the Congressional 
        Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 622)) for 
        the programs, projects, and activities under the jurisdiction 
        of a subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations of the 
        Senate; and
            (2) includes--
                    (A) a title, division, or other subdivision of an 
                Act or resolution that, if it were a separate Act, 
                would be an Act described in paragraph (1); and
                    (B) a resolution or Act, or a title, division, or 
                other subdivision of a resolution or Act, making 
                continuing appropriations for all, or a portion of, a 
                fiscal year.
    (c) Exclusion.--Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to any 
discretionary appropriations included in the security category (as 
defined in Section 250(c) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 
Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900(c))).
    (d) Total Cost.--For purposes of this section, the term ``total 
cost'' means, with respect to a fiscal year, an amount (as determined 
by the Secretary of the Treasury) equal to the total reduction in the 
transfers to each fund under the Social Security Act or the Railroad 
Retirement Act of 1974 for such fiscal year by reason of the amendments 
made by section 2(b) (as determined without respect to any 
appropriation made pursuant to section 2(c)).
    (e) OMB Report.--Not later than January 1, 2027, and annually 
thereafter, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall 
publish a report detailing any rescissions made under this section with 
respect to the most recently completed fiscal year.
                                 <all>
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