I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2266 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for a minimum 

annual cost-of-living increase for Social Security benefits, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2021 

Mr. WALBERG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide 

for a minimum annual cost-of-living increase for Social 

Security benefits, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Certainty for Older 

5 Living Americans Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘COLA Act of 

6 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMPUTATION OF COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 215(i) of the Social Secu3 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘with re5 spect to which the applicable increase percentage is 

6 greater than zero;’’; and 

7 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

9 (i) in clause (ii), in the matter fol10 lowing subclause (III), by striking ‘‘appli11 cable increase percentage’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘the increase percentage determined under 

13 clause (iv) for such year’’; and 

14 (ii) by adding at the end the fol15 lowing: 

16 ‘‘(iv) The increase percentage determined under this 

17 clause for a year shall be the greater of— 

18 ‘‘(I) the applicable increase percentage with re19 spect to a cost-of-living computation quarter in such 

20 year; or 

21 ‘‘(II) the arithmetical mean of the increase per22 centages determined under this clause for each of 

23 the years in the 10-year period ending with the year 

24 before such year.’’; and 

25 (B) in the first sentence of subparagraph 

26 (D), by striking ‘‘and the percentage thereof’’ 


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1 and inserting ‘‘, the percentage thereof, and the 

2 increase percentage determined under subpara3 graph (A)(iv) for the following year’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply with respect to cost-of-living com6 putation quarters ending on or after September 30, 2021. 

7 SEC. 3. WORKING GROUP ON USE OF NATIONAL ACCOUNTS 

8 DATA. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Labor and 

10 the Secretary of Commerce shall establish a working group 

11 (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Working Group’’) to 

12 provide recommendations to the Bureau of Labor Statis13 tics on incorporating national accounts data to produce— 

14 (1) an accurate, timely, and relevant Consumer 

15 Price Index; and 

16 (2) up-to-date expenditure weights. 

17 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

18 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Secretary of Labor 

19 and the Secretary of Commerce shall appoint to the 

20 Working Group individuals with expertise relating to 

21 statistical and computational methods, survey re22 search, and economic, social, and demographic meas23 urement. 

24 (2) REPRESENTATION.—In appointing rep25 resentatives to the Working Group, the Secretary of 


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1 Labor and the Secretary of Commerce shall consider 

2 appointing members from relevant Federal agencies 

3 and non-Federal stakeholder groups, including— 

4 (3) the Bureau of Labor Statistics; 

5 (4) the Bureau of Economic Analysis; and 

6 (5) the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory 

7 Committee. 

8 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Working Group shall 

10 submit to the Committee on Education and Labor of the 

11 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 

12 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 

13 that includes the findings and recommendations of the 

14 Working Group under subsection (a). 

15 (d) TERMINATION.—The Working Group shall termi16 nate upon submission of the report required under sub17 section (c). 

Æ 


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