I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 397

To amend title II of the Social Security Act so as to remove the limitation

upon the amount of outside income which an individual may earn while

receiving benefits thereunder.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

Mr. SOLOMON 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 so as to remove

the limitation upon the amount of outside income which

an individual may earn while receiving benefits thereunder.

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 ‘‘Social Security Earn5 ings Test Elimination Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO DEDUC2 TIONS ON ACCOUNT OF WORK.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsections (b), (c)(1), (d), (f),

4 (h), (j), and (k) of section 203 of the Social Security Act

5 (42 U.S.C. 403) are repealed.

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 203 of

7 such Act (as amended by subsection (a)) is further amend8 ed—

9 (1) in subsection (c), by redesignating such sub10 section as subsection (b), and—

11 (A) by striking ‘‘Noncovered Work Outside

12 the United States or’’ in the heading;

13 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3),

14 and (4) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respec15 tively;

16 (C) by striking ‘‘For purposes of para17 graphs (2), (3), and (4)’’ and inserting in lieu

18 thereof ‘‘For purposes of paragraphs (1), (2),

19 and (3)’’; and

20 (D) by striking the last sentence;

21 (2) in subsection (e), by redesignating such sub22 section as subsection (c), and by striking ‘‘sub23 sections (c) and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’;

24 (3) in subsection (g), by redesignating such

25 subsection as subsection (d), and by striking ‘‘sub-
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1 section (c)’’ each place it appears and inserting

2 ‘‘subsection (b)’’;

3 (4) in subsection (i), by redesignating such sub4 section as subsection (e), and by striking ‘‘sub5 section (b), (c), (g), or (h)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub6 sections (b) or (d)’’; and

7 (5) in subsection (l), by redesignating such sub8 section as subsection (f), and by striking ‘‘subsection

9 (g) or (h)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (d)’’.

10 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

11 (a) PROVISIONS RELATING TO APPLICATIONS FOR

12 RETROACTIVE BENEFITS.—Section 202(j)(4)(B) of the

13 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(j)(4)(B)) is amended

14 by striking clause (iv), and by redesignating clause (v) as

15 clause (iv).

16 (b) PROVISIONS RELATING TO BENEFITS TERMI17 NATED UPON DEPORTATION.—Section 202(n)(1) of such

18 Act (42 U.S.C. 402(n)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘Sec19 tion 203(b), (c), and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘Section 203(b)’’.

20 (c) PROVISIONS RELATING TO EXEMPTIONS FROM

21 REDUCTIONS BASED ON EARLY RETIREMENT.—

22 (1) Section 202(q)(5)(B) of such Act (42

23 U.S.C. 402(q)(5)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘sec24 tion 203(c)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(b)(1)’’.
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1 (2) Section 202(q)(7)(A) of such Act (42

2 U.S.C. 402(q)(7)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘de3 ductions under section 203(b), 203(c)(1), 203(d)(1),

4 or 222(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘deductions on account of

5 work under section 203 or deductions under section

6 222(b)’’.

7 (d) PROVISIONS RELATING TO EXEMPTIONS FROM

8 REDUCTIONS BASED ON DISREGARD OF CERTAIN ENTI9 TLEMENTS TO CHILD’S INSURANCE BENEFITS.—

10 (1) Section 202(s)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

11 402(s)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘paragraphs (2),

12 (3), and (4) of section 203(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘para13 graphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 203(b)’’.

14 (2) Section 202(s)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

15 402(s)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘The last sen16 tence of subsection (c) of section 203, subsection

17 (f)(1)(C) of section 203, and subsections’’ and in18 serting ‘‘Subsections’’.

19 (e) PROVISIONS RELATING TO SUSPENSION OF

20 ALIENS’ BENEFITS.—Section 202(t)(7) of such Act (42

21 U.S.C. 402(t)(7)) is amended by striking ‘‘Subsections

22 (b), (c), and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subsection (b)’’.

23 (f) PROVISIONS RELATING TO BENEFITS INCREASED

24 ON ACCOUNT OF DELAYED RETIREMENT.—Section
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1 202(w)(2)(B)(ii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 402(w)(2)(B)(ii))

2 is amended by striking ‘‘or 203(c)’’.

3 (g) PROVISIONS RELATING TO REDUCTIONS IN BEN4 EFITS BASED ON MAXIMUM BENEFITS.—Section

5 203(a)(3)(B)(iii) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

6 403(a)(3)(B)(iii)) is amended by striking ‘‘and subsections

7 (b), (c), and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘and subsection (b)’’.

8 (h) PROVISIONS RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR MIS9 REPRESENTATIONS CONCERNING EARNINGS FOR PERI10 ODS SUBJECT TO DEDUCTIONS ON ACCOUNT OF WORK.—

11 Section 208(a)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 408(a)(3)) is

12 amended by striking ‘‘under section 203(f) of this title for

13 purposes of deductions from benefits’’ and inserting

14 ‘‘under section 203 for purposes of deductions from bene15 fits on account of work’’.

16 (i) PROVISIONS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT EARNINGS

17 IN DETERMINING BENEFIT COMPUTATION YEARS.—

18 Clause (I) in the next to last sentence of section

19 215(b)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(b)(2)(A)) is

20 amended by striking ‘‘no earnings as described in section

21 203(f)(5) in such year’’ and inserting ‘‘no wages, and no

22 net earnings from self-employment (in excess of net loss

23 from self-employment), in such year’’.

24 (j) PROVISIONS RELATING TO ROUNDING OF BENE25 FITS.—Section 215(g) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(g)) is
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1 amended by striking ‘‘and any deduction under section

2 203(b)’’.

3 (k) PROVISIONS RELATING TO EARNINGS TAKEN

4 INTO ACCOUNT IN DETERMINING SUBSTANTIAL GAINFUL

5 ACTIVITY OF BLIND INDIVIDUALS.—The second sentence

6 of section 223(d)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 423(d)(4))

7 is amended by striking ‘‘the exempt amount under section

8 203(f)(8) which is applicable to individuals described in

9 subparagraph (D) thereof’’ and inserting the following:

10 ‘‘an amount equal to the exempt amount which would have

11 been applicable under section 203(f)(8), to individuals de12 scribed in subparagraph (D) thereof, if subsections (b)

13 through (l) of section 203 as in effect in December 1988

14 had remained in effect through the month in which such

15 earnings were derived’’.

16 (l) PROVISIONS DEFINING INCOME FOR PURPOSES

17 OF SSI.—Section 1612(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

18 1382a(a)) is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘as determined under section

20 203(f)(5)(C)’’ in paragraph (1)(A) and inserting ‘‘as

21 defined in the last two sentences of this subsection’’;

22 and

23 (2) by adding at the end (after and below para24 graph (2)(F)) the following new sentences:
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1 ‘‘For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), the term ‘wages’

2 means wages as defined in section 209, but computed

3 without regard to the limitations as to amounts of remu4 neration specified in subsections (a), (g)(2), (g)(3), (h)(2),

5 and (j) of such section. In making the computation under

6 the preceding sentence, (A) services which do not con7 stitute employment as defined in section 210, performed

8 within the United States by an individual as an employee

9 or performed outside the United States in the active mili10 tary or naval services of the United States, shall be

11 deemed to be employment as so defined if the remunera12 tion for such services is not includible in computing the

13 individual’s net earnings or net loss from self-employment

14 for purposes of title II, and (B) the term ‘wages’ shall

15 be deemed not to include (i) the amount of any payment

16 made to, or on behalf of, an employee or any of his or

17 her dependents (including any amount paid by an em18 ployer for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to pro19 vide for any such payment) on account of retirement, or

20 (ii) any payment or series of payments by an employer

21 to an employee or any of his or her dependents upon or

22 after the termination of the employee’s employment rela23 tionship because of retirement after attaining an age spec24 ified in a plan referred to in section 209(m)(2) or in a

25 pension plan of the employer.’’.
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1 (m) REPEAL OF DEDUCTIONS ON ACCOUNT OF

2 WORK UNDER THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT PROGRAM.—

3 Section 2 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45

4 U.S.C. 231a) is amended by striking subsections (f) and

5 (g)(2).

6 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

7 The amendments and repeals made by this Act shall

8 be effective with respect to taxable years ending on and

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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