I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 243

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to phase out the earnings

test over a 5-year period for individuals who have attained age 65,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 4, 1995

Mr. EMERSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to phase out

the earnings test over a 5-year period for individuals

who have attained age 65, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. LIBERALIZATION OF EARNINGS TEST FOR INDI4 VIDUALS WHO HAVE ATTAINED RETIREMENT

5 AGE.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Effective with respect to taxable

7 years ending after 1995, subparagraph (D) of section

8 203(f)(8) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 403(f)(8))

9 is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other provision of

2 this subsection, the exempt amount which is applica3 ble to an individual who has attained retirement age

4 (as defined in section 216(l)) before the close of the

5 taxable year involved—

6 ‘‘(i) shall be $1,140 for each month of any

7 taxable year ending after 1995 and before

8 1997,

9 ‘‘(ii) shall be $1,390 for each month of any

10 taxable year ending after 1996 and before

11 1998,

12 ‘‘(iii) shall be $1,640 for each month of

13 any taxable year ending after 1997 and before

14 1999,

15 ‘‘(iv) shall be $1,890 for each month of

16 any taxable year ending after 1998 and before

17 2000, and

18 ‘‘(v) shall be $2,140 for each month of any

19 taxable year ending after 1999 and before

20 2001.’’.

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The second sen22 tence of section 223(d)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

23 423(d)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘which is applicable to

24 individuals described in subparagraph (D) thereof’’ and

25 inserting ‘‘which would be applicable to individuals who
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1 have attained retirement age (as defined in section 216(l))

2 without regard to any increase in such amount resulting

3 from a law enacted in 1995’’.

4 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF EARNINGS TEST IN 2001 FOR INDIVID5 UALS WHO HAVE ATTAINED RETIREMENT

6 AGE.

7 Effective with respect to taxable years ending after

8 2000—

9 (1) clause (B) in the third sentence of section

10 203(f)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

11 403(f)(1)) is amended to read as follows: ‘‘(B) in

12 any taxable year before the close of which such indi13 vidual has attained retirement age (as defined in

14 section 216(l)),’’; and

15 (2) the first sentence of section 203(f)(3) of

16 such Act (42 U.S.C. 403(f)(3)) is amended to read

17 as follows: ‘‘For purposes of paragraph (1) and sub18 section (h), an individual’s excess earnings for a tax19 able year shall be 50 percent of his earnings for

20 such year in excess of the product of (A) the appli21 cable exempt amount as determined under para22 graph (8), and (B) the number of months in such

23 year; except that no part of the earnings of an indi24 vidual for any taxable year shall constitute excess

25 earnings for such purposes if the individual has at-
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1 tained retirement age (as defined in section 216(l))

2 before the close of that year.’’.

3 SEC. 3. ACCELERATION OF 8 PERCENT DELAYED RETIRE4 MENT CREDIT.

5 Effective with respect to taxable years ending after

6 2000, paragraph (6) of section 202(w) of the Social Secu7 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 402(w)(6)) is amended—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘2005’’ in subparagraph (C)

9 and inserting ‘‘1995’’; and

10 (2) by striking ‘‘2004’’ in subparagraph (D)

11 and inserting ‘‘1994’’.

12 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AND RELATED AMENDMENTS.

13 Effective with respect to taxable years ending after

14 1993—

15 (1) section 203(c)(1) of the Social Security Act

16 (42 U.S.C. 403(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘is

17 under the age of seventy’’ and inserting ‘‘is under

18 retirement age (as defined in section 216(l))’’;

19 (2) paragraphs (1)(A) and (2) of section 203(d)

20 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 403(d)(1)(A), (2)) are each

21 amended by striking ‘‘under the age of seventy’’ and

22 inserting ‘‘under retirement age (as defined in sec23 tion 216(l))’’;

24 (3) subparagraph (D) of section 203(f)(5) of

25 such Act (42 U.S.C. 403(f)(5)(D)) is amended—
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1 (A) by striking ‘‘(D) In the case of’’ and

2 all that follows down through ‘‘(ii) an individ3 ual’’ and inserting the following:

4 ‘‘(D) In the case of an individual’’;

5 (B) by striking ‘‘became entitled to such

6 benefits’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘be7 came entitled to such benefits, there shall be ex8 cluded from gross income any such other in9 come.’’; and

10 (C) by shifting such subparagraph as so

11 amended to the left to the extent necessary to

12 align its left margin with that of subparagraphs

13 (A) through (C) of such section;

14 (4) section 203(f)(8)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

15 403(f)(8)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘the new ex16 empt amounts (separately stated for individuals de17 scribed in subparagraph (D) and for other individ18 uals) which are to be applicable’’ and inserting ‘‘the

19 new exempt amount which is to be applicable’’;

20 (5) section 203(f)(8)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

21 403(f)(8)(B)) is amended—

22 (A) by striking all that precedes clause (i)

23 and inserting the following:
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1 ‘‘(B) The exempt amount which is applicable

2 for each month of a particular taxable year shall be

3 whichever of the following is the larger—’’;

4 (B) by striking ‘‘corresponding’’ in clause

5 (i); and

6 (C) by striking ‘‘an exempt amount’’ in the

7 matter following clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘the

8 exempt amount’’;

9 (6) section 203(f)(8)(D) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

10 403(f)(8)(D)) (as amended by section 1 of this Act)

11 is repealed;

12 (7) section 203(f)(9) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

13 403(f)(9)) is repealed;

14 (8) section 203(h)(1)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

15 403(h)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘age 70’’ each

16 place it appears and inserting ‘‘retirement age (as

17 defined in section 216(l))’’;

18 (9) section 203(j) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

19 403(j)) is amended to read as follows:

20 ‘‘Attainment of Retirement Age

21 ‘‘(j) For purposes of this section—

22 ‘‘(1) an individual shall be considered as having

23 attained retirement age (as defined in section

24 216(l)) during the entire month in which he attains

25 such age; and
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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘retirement age (as defined in

2 section 216(l))’, with respect to any individual enti3 tled to monthly insurance benefits under section

4 202, means the retirement age (as so defined) which

5 is applicable in the case of old-age insurance bene6 fits, regardless of whether or not the particular ben7 efits to which the individual is entitled (or the only

8 such benefits) are old-age insurance benefits.’’; and

9 (10) the second sentence of section 223(d)(4) of

10 such Act (42 U.S.C. 423(d)(4)) (as amended by sec11 tion 1(b) of this Act) is further amended by striking

12 ‘‘without regard to any increase in such amount re13 sulting from a law enacted in 1995’’ and inserting

14 ‘‘but for the liberalization and repeal of the earnings

15 test for such individuals in 1995’’.

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