II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2653 

To create a poverty relief benefit under title II of the Social Security Act 

for eligible individuals. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 12, 2018 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. CASEY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To create a poverty relief benefit under title II of the Social 

Security Act for eligible individuals. 

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 ‘‘Elder Poverty Relief 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. POVERTY RELIEF BENEFIT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Social Security Act 

8 (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘POVERTY RELIEF BENEFIT

2 ‘‘SEC. 235. (a) Subject to subsection (d), any eligible 

3 individual shall be entitled to a poverty relief benefit that 

4 shall be— 

5 ‘‘(1) in addition to any other amounts to which the 

6 individual is entitled under this title; 

7 ‘‘(2) certified and paid monthly in such manner as 

8 the Commissioner of Social Security (referred to in this 

9 section as the ‘Commissioner’) considers appropriate; and 

10 ‘‘(3) equal to the monthly benefit amount determined 

11 under subsection (b). 

12 ‘‘(b)(1) Subject to paragraph (4), the monthly benefit 

13 amount determined under this subsection for any calendar 

year shall be a dollar amount equal to 1 14 ⁄12th of 2 percent 

15 of the national average wage index for the year (as defined 

16 in section 209(k)(1)). 

17 ‘‘(2) If the monthly benefit amount determined under 

18 paragraph (1) is not a whole dollar, such amount shall 

19 be rounded down to the next lower whole dollar. 

20 ‘‘(3) The Commissioner shall determine the monthly 

21 benefit amount under this subsection for each calendar 

22 year not later than October 1 of the preceding calendar 

23 year, based on the most recent data that is available. 

24 ‘‘(4) If the monthly benefit amount determined for 

25 a calendar year under paragraph (1) is less than the 


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1 monthly benefit amount determined for any previous cal2 endar year, the highest monthly benefit amount deter3 mined for a previous year shall be the monthly benefit 

4 amount for the calendar year involved. 

5 ‘‘(5) For purposes of a monthly benefit amount pay6 able to an eligible individual pursuant to this section, such 

7 amount shall be payable for each month during the 12- 

8 month period from the month of December of the applica9 ble calendar year under such subsection through the 

10 month of November of the subsequent calendar year. 

11 ‘‘(c)(1) For purposes of this section, the term ‘eligible 

12 individual’ means any of the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) An individual who— 

14 ‘‘(i) is entitled to a monthly benefit under sub15 sections (a) through (h) of section 202 or section 

16 223(a); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) attains 82 years of age or 240 benefit 

18 months (as defined in paragraph (3)) on the basis 

19 of the wages and self-employment income of 1 indi20 vidual, whichever is earlier. 

21 ‘‘(B) An individual who— 

22 ‘‘(i) is eligible for supplemental security income 

23 benefits under title XVI; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) attains retirement age (as defined in sec2 tion 216(l)) or 240 benefit months (as defined in 

3 paragraph (3)), whichever is earlier. 

4 ‘‘(C) An individual who— 

5 ‘‘(i) is entitled to a monthly benefit under sub6 sections (a) through (h) of section 202; 

7 ‘‘(ii) attains retirement age (as defined in sec8 tion 216(l)); 

9 ‘‘(iii) has average indexed monthly earnings 

10 which do not exceed the amount specified in sub11 paragraph (B) of section 215(a)(1) for the purposes 

12 of clause (i) of subparagraph (A) of such section 

13 215(a); and 

14 ‘‘(iv) has not less than 11 years of coverage (as 

15 defined for purposes of section 215(a)(7)(D)). 

16 ‘‘(2)(A) An individual’s entitlement to a poverty relief 

17 benefit under this section shall be suspended if, during any 

18 month, the individual ceases to be an eligible individual. 

19 ‘‘(B) In the case of an individual described in sub20 paragraph (A) who subsequently satisfies the require21 ments under paragraph (1), such individual shall be re22 entitled to a poverty relief benefit under this section. 

23 ‘‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), for 

24 purposes of this subsection, the term ‘benefit month’ 

25 means a month for which an individual has— 


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1 ‘‘(i) attained age 19; and 

2 ‘‘(ii) been— 

3 ‘‘(I) entitled to a monthly benefit under 

4 subsections (a) through (h) of section 202 or 

5 section 223(a); or 

6 ‘‘(II) eligible for supplemental security in7 come benefits under title XVI. 

8 ‘‘(B) The term ‘benefit month’ shall not include any 

9 month in which an individual is— 

10 ‘‘(i) entitled to a benefit under section 202 that 

11 is not payable or reduced to zero by application of 

12 subsection (k), (n), (t), (u), (v), or (x) of such sec13 tion and is not eligible for a benefit under title XVI 

14 (or is eligible for a benefit under such title but the 

15 benefit is not payable or reduced to zero); 

16 ‘‘(ii) eligible for a benefit under title XVI that 

17 is not payable or reduced to zero and is not entitled 

18 to a benefit under sections 202 or 223 (or is entitled 

19 to a benefit under such section 202 but the benefit 

20 is not payable or reduced to zero); or 

21 ‘‘(iii) subject to a penalty under section 1129A. 

22 ‘‘(C) In the case of an individual who is entitled to 

23 a monthly insurance benefit described in subclause (I) of 

24 subparagraph (A)(ii) on the basis of the wages and self25 employment income of more than 1 individual, a benefit 


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1 month shall be determined based on the wages and self2 employment income that are the basis of the largest ben3 efit to which such individual is entitled for such month. 

4 ‘‘(d)(1) In no case shall an eligible individual be enti5 tled to more than 1 poverty relief benefit under this sec6 tion for any month. 

7 ‘‘(2) For any month in which an eligible individual 

8 is entitled to a monthly benefit described in subsection 

9 (c)(1)(A)(i) on the basis of the wages and self-employment 

10 income of more than 1 individual, a poverty relief benefit 

11 under this section may only be paid for such month on 

12 the basis of the wages and self-employment that are the 

13 basis for the largest monthly benefit to which such indi14 vidual is entitled for such month. 

15 ‘‘(3) Any amounts provided to an eligible individual 

16 pursuant to this section shall not be regarded as income 

17 or earnings for purposes of determining the eligibility of 

18 the recipient for benefits or assistance, or the amount or 

19 extent of benefits or assistance, under any Federal pro20 gram or under any State or local program financed in 

21 whole or in part with Federal funds, or the eligibility for 

22 or extent of benefits or assistance under such programs 

23 of any individual for whom the income of the recipient is 

24 counted.’’. 


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1 (b) RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT.—Section 19 of the 

2 Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231r) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub5 section (e); 

6 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol7 lowing new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(d)(1) An individual entitled to an annuity compo9 nent computed under section 3(a)(1), 4(a)(1), or 4(f)(1) 

10 of this Act shall be entitled to the benefit described in sec11 tion 235 of the Social Security Act, subject to the require12 ments and conditions set forth therein.’’; and 

13 (3) in subsection (e), as so redesignated, by 

14 striking ‘‘subsection (a), (b), or (c)’’ each place it 

15 appears and inserting ‘‘subsection (a), (b), (c), or 

16 (d)’’. 

17 (c) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—Subsection (h) of section 

18 201 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) is amended 

19 to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(h)(1) Benefit payments required to be made under 

21 section 223, and benefit payments required to be made 

22 under subsection (b), (c), or (d) of section 202 to individ23 uals entitled to benefits on the basis of the wages and self24 employment income of an individual entitled to disability 

25 insurance benefits, shall be made only from the Federal 


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1 Disability Insurance Trust Fund. All other benefit pay2 ments required to be made under this title (other than 

3 sections 226 and 235) shall be made only from the Federal 

4 Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund. 

5 ‘‘(2) Any benefit payment required to made under 

6 section 235 to an individual entitled to a poverty relief 

7 benefit under such section shall be made— 

8 ‘‘(A) in the case of an individual who is also en9 titled to a benefit under section 202 or 223, from 

10 the same trust fund from which the individual’s ben11 efit under section 202 or 223 is made; and 

12 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who is not en13 titled to a benefit under section 202 or 223, from 

14 funds appropriated for such purpose pursuant to the 

15 authorization of appropriations in section 1601.’’. 

16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

17 1601 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381) is 

18 amended by striking ‘‘there are authorized’’ and all that 

19 follows through the period and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘and to make poverty relief benefit payments under sec21 tion 235 to individuals who are described in section 

22 201(h)(2)(B), there are authorized to be appropriated 

23 sums sufficient to carry out this title and make such pay24 ments.’’. 


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1 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to benefits payable for months be3 ginning after November 2018. 

Æ 


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