I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1540 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to improve social security 

benefits for widows and widowers in two-income households. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2019 

Ms. SA ́NCHEZ (for herself, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mrs. DINGELL, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. 

MOORE, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. POCAN, Mr. 

CA ́RDENAS, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) 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 improve 

social security benefits for widows and widowers in twoincome households. 

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 ‘‘Protecting Our Widows 

5 and Widowers in Retirement (POWR) Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVING SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS FOR WID2 OWS AND WIDOWERS IN TWO-INCOME HOUSE3 HOLDS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

5 (1) WIDOWS.—Section 202(e) of the Social Se6 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 402(e)) is amended— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

8 (i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

9 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

10 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(iii), by strik11 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

12 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D); 

13 (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 

14 (E) and (F) as subparagraphs (D) and 

15 (E), respectively; and 

16 (v) in the flush matter following sub17 paragraph (E)(ii), as so redesignated, by 

18 striking ‘‘or becomes entitled to an old-age 

19 insurance benefit’’ and all that follows 

20 through ‘‘such deceased individual,’’; 

21 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) in para22 graph (2) and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subsection 

24 (k)(5), subsection (q), and subparagraph (D) of this 

25 paragraph, such widow’s insurance benefit for each 

26 month shall be equal to the greater of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) subject to paragraph (9), the primary 

2 insurance amount (as determined for purposes 

3 of this subsection after application of subpara4 graphs (B) and (C)) of such deceased indi5 vidual; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) subject to paragraphs (9) and (10), in 

7 the case of a fully insured widow or surviving 

8 divorced wife, 75 percent of the sum of any old9 age or disability insurance benefit for which the 

10 widow or the surviving divorced wife is entitled 

11 for such month and the primary insurance 

12 amount (as determined for purposes of this 

13 subsection after application of subparagraphs 

14 (B) and (C)) of such deceased individual.’’; 

15 (C) in paragraph (5)— 

16 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

17 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)’’ and inserting ‘‘para18 graph (1)(E)’’; and 

19 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

20 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)(i)’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘paragraph (1)(E)(i)’’; and 

22 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraphs: 

24 ‘‘(9) For purposes of clauses (i) and (ii) of 

25 paragraph (2)(A), in the case of a surviving divorced 


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1 wife, the amount determined under either such 

2 clause (and, for purposes of clause (ii) of paragraph 

3 (2)(A), as determined after application of paragraph 

4 (10)) shall be equal to the applicable percentage (as 

5 determined under section 202(b)(2)(B)) of such 

6 amount (as determined before application of this 

7 paragraph but after application of subsection 

8 (k)(3)). 

9 ‘‘(10) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(ii), the 

10 amount determined under such paragraph shall not 

11 exceed the primary insurance amount for such 

12 month of a hypothetical individual— 

13 ‘‘(A) who became entitled to old-age insur14 ance benefits upon attaining early retirement 

15 age during the month in which the deceased in16 dividual referred to in paragraph (1) became 

17 entitled to old-age or disability insurance bene18 fits, or died (before becoming entitled to such 

19 benefits); and 

20 ‘‘(B) to whom wages and self-employment 

21 income were credited in each of such hypo22 thetical individual’s elapsed years (within the 

23 meaning of section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii)) in an 

amount equal to 11 24 ⁄3 of the national average 


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1 wage index (as described in section 209(k)(1)) 

2 for each such year.’’. 

3 (2) WIDOWERS.—Section 202(f) of the Social 

4 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(f)) is amended— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

6 (i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 

7 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (C)(iii), by strik9 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

10 (iii) by striking subparagraph (D); 

11 (iv) by redesignating subparagraphs 

12 (E) and (F) as subparagraphs (D) and 

13 (E), respectively; and 

14 (v) in the flush matter following sub15 paragraph (E)(ii), as so redesignated, by 

16 striking ‘‘or becomes entitled to an old-age 

17 insurance benefit’’ and all that follows 

18 through ‘‘such deceased individual,’’; 

19 (B) by striking subparagraph (A) in para20 graph (2) and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subsection 

22 (k)(5), subsection (q), and subparagraph (D) of this 

23 paragraph, such widower’s insurance benefit for 

24 each month shall be equal to the greater of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) subject to paragraph (9), the primary 

2 insurance amount (as determined for purposes 

3 of this subsection after application of subpara4 graphs (B) and (C)) of such deceased indi5 vidual; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) subject to paragraphs (9) and (10), in 

7 the case of a fully insured widower or surviving 

8 divorced husband, 75 percent of the sum of any 

9 old-age or disability insurance benefit for which 

10 the widower or the surviving divorced husband 

11 is entitled for such month and the primary in12 surance amount (as determined for purposes of 

13 this subsection after application of subpara14 graphs (B) and (C)) of such deceased indi15 vidual.’’; 

16 (C) in paragraph (5)— 

17 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

18 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)’’ and inserting ‘‘para19 graph (1)(E)’’; and 

20 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

21 ‘‘paragraph (1)(F)(i)’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘paragraph (1)(E)(i)’’; and 

23 (D) by adding at the end the following new 

24 paragraphs: 


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1 ‘‘(9) For purposes of clauses (i) and (ii) of 

2 paragraph (2)(A), in the case of a surviving divorced 

3 husband, the amount determined under either such 

4 clause (and, for purposes of clause (ii) of paragraph 

5 (2)(A), as determined after application of paragraph 

6 (10)) shall be equal to the applicable percentage (as 

7 determined under section 202(c)(2)(B)) of such 

8 amount (as determined before application of this 

9 paragraph but after application of subsection 

10 (k)(3)). 

11 ‘‘(10) For purposes of paragraph (2)(A)(ii), the 

12 amount determined under such paragraph shall not 

13 exceed the primary insurance amount for such 

14 month of a hypothetical individual— 

15 ‘‘(A) who became entitled to old-age insur16 ance benefits upon attaining early retirement 

17 age during the month in which the deceased in18 dividual referred to in paragraph (1) became 

19 entitled to old-age or disability insurance bene20 fits, or died (before becoming entitled to such 

21 benefits); and 

22 ‘‘(B) to whom wages and self-employment 

23 income were credited in each of such hypo24 thetical individual’s elapsed years (within the 

25 meaning of section 215(b)(2)(B)(iii)) in an 


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amount equal to 11 1 ⁄3 of the national average 

2 wage index (as described in section 209(k)(1)) 

3 for each such year.’’. 

4 (b) HOLDING SSI BENEFICIARIES HARMLESS.—For 

5 purposes of determining the income of an individual to es6 tablish eligibility for, and the amount of, benefits payable 

7 under title XVI of the Social Security Act, the amount 

8 of any benefit to which the individual is entitled under 

9 title II of such Act shall be deemed not to exceed the 

10 amount of the benefit that would be determined for such 

11 individual under such title as in effect on the day before 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

14 this section shall apply with respect to widow’s and wid15 ower’s insurance benefits payable for months after Decem16 ber 2019. 

Æ 


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