I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2025 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for equal treatment 

of individuals in same-sex marriages, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 23, 2015 

Mr. TAKANO (for himself, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. 

CONYERS, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. 

LEWIS, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. POCAN, Ms. LEE, Mr. 

MCDERMOTT, Mr. PETERS, Mr. KIND, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. ESTY, 

Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. FRANKEL

of Florida, Mr. GARAMENDI, and Mr. POLIS) 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 provide 

for equal treatment of individuals in same-sex marriages, 

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 ‘‘Social Security and 

5 Medicare Parity Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DETERMINATION OF VALID MARRIAGE UNDER THE 

2 SOCIAL SECURITY ACT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 216(h)(1)(A)(i) of the So4 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 416(h)(1)(A)(i)) is amended 

5 by striking ‘‘is domiciled’’ and all that follows through 

6 ‘‘the District of Columbia,’’ and inserting ‘‘and such appli7 cant were married (or, if such insured individual and such 

8 applicant were not married in any State but were validly 

9 married in another jurisdiction, the courts of any State)’’. 

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

11 this section shall apply to all final determinations of family 

12 status made after June 26, 2013. 

13 SEC. 3. ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF MEETING NINE-MONTH 

14 REQUIREMENT FOR WIDOWS, STEP15 CHILDREN, OR WIDOWERS IN CERTAIN 

16 CASES. 

17 Section 216(k) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 416(k)) is amended— 

19 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘in Case 

20 of Accidental Death or in Case of Serviceman Dying 

21 in Line of Duty, or in Case of Remarriage to the 

22 Same Individual’’ and inserting ‘‘in certain cases’’; 

23 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

24 end; 

25 (3) in paragraph (2)(B), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 

26 end; and 


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1 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(3)(A) in the case of a widow or widower of 

4 such individual whose marriage to such individual 

5 would not have been treated as a marriage for pur6 poses of Federal law prior to June 26, 2013, such 

7 widow or widower— 

8 ‘‘(i) became the wife or husband of such 

9 individual (or was deemed to be the wife or hus10 band of such individual under subsection 

11 (h)(1)(A)(ii))— 

12 ‘‘(I) if such widow or widower is domi13 ciled in a State that recognized same-sex 

14 marriages, civil unions, or registered do15 mestic partnerships as of June 26, 2013, 

16 before March 26, 2014; and 

17 ‘‘(II) if such widow or widower is 

18 domiciled in any other State— 

19 ‘‘(aa) before March 26, 2014; or 

20 ‘‘(bb) if applicable, during the 9- 

21 month period beginning with the 1st 

22 date on which such State recognized 

23 same-sex marriages, civil unions, or 

24 registered domestic partnerships; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) provides a sworn affidavit that the 

2 widow or widower was married to, or in a do3 mestic partnership with, such individual 

4 throughout the 9-month period ending on the 

5 date of the individual’s death; or 

6 ‘‘(B) the stepchild of such individual— 

7 ‘‘(i) became the stepchild of such indi8 vidual as a result of a parent of the stepchild 

9 becoming the wife or husband of such individual 

10 (or being deemed to be the wife or husband of 

11 such individual under subsection 

12 (h)(1)(A)(ii))— 

13 ‘‘(I) if such parent is domiciled in a 

14 State that recognized same-sex marriages, 

15 civil unions, or registered domestic part16 nerships as of June 26, 2013, before 

17 March 26, 2014; and 

18 ‘‘(II) if such parent is domiciled in 

19 any other State— 

20 ‘‘(aa) before March 26, 2014; or 

21 ‘‘(bb) if applicable, during the 9- 

22 month period beginning with the 1st 

23 date on which such State recognized 

24 same-sex marriages, civil unions, or 

25 registered domestic partnerships; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) provides a sworn affidavit that such 

2 parent was married to, or in a domestic part3 nership with, such individual throughout the 9- 

4 month period ending on the date of the individ5 ual’s death;’’. 

6 SEC. 4. ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF MEETING 1-YEAR RE7 QUIREMENT FOR WIVES, STEPCHILDREN, OR 

8 HUSBANDS IN CERTAIN CASES. 

9 The requirement in section 216(b)(2) of the Social 

10 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 416) and the requirement in sec11 tion 216(f)(2) of such Act that the spouse of an individual 

12 shall have been married to such individual for a period 

13 of not less than 1 year immediately preceding the day on 

14 which the spouse’s application for wife’s or husband’s in15 surance benefits is filed in order to qualify as such individ16 ual’s wife or husband, and the requirement in section 

17 216(e)(2) of such Act that the stepchild of an individual 

18 shall have been such stepchild for not less than 1 year 

19 immediately preceding the day on which application for 

20 child’s insurance benefits is filed in order to qualify as 

21 such individual’s child, shall be deemed to be satisfied, 

22 where such application is filed within the applicable 1-year 

23 period, if— 

24 (1) in the case of a wife or husband of such in25 dividual whose marriage to such individual would 


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1 not have been treated as a marriage for purposes of 

2 Federal law prior to June 26, 2013, such wife or 

3 husband— 

4 (A) became the wife or husband of such in5 dividual (or was deemed to be the wife or hus6 band of such individual under subsection 

7 (h)(1)(A)(ii) of such Act)— 

8 (i) if such wife or husband is domi9 ciled in a State that recognized same-sex 

10 marriages, civil unions, or registered do11 mestic partnerships as of June 26, 2013, 

12 before June 26, 2014; and 

13 (ii) if such wife or husband is domi14 ciled in any other State— 

15 (I) before June 26, 2014; or 

16 (II) if applicable, during the 1- 

17 year period beginning with the 1st 

18 date on which such State recognized 

19 same-sex marriages, civil unions, or 

20 registered domestic partnerships; and 

21 (B) provides a sworn affidavit that the 

22 wife or husband was married to, or in a domes23 tic partnership with, such individual throughout 

24 the 1-year period ending on the date of the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 May 06, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2025.IH H2025

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1 plication for wife’s or husband’s insurance bene2 fits; or 

3 (2) the stepchild of such individual— 

4 (A) became the stepchild of such individual 

5 as a result of a parent of the stepchild becom6 ing the wife or husband of such individual (or 

7 being deemed to be the wife or husband of such 

8 individual under subsection (h)(1)(A)(ii) of such 

9 Act)— 

10 (i) if such parent is domiciled in a 

11 State that recognized same-sex marriages, 

12 civil unions, or registered domestic part13 nerships as of June 26, 2013, before June 

14 26, 2014; and 

15 (ii) if such parent is domiciled in any 

16 other State— 

17 (I) before June 26, 2014; or 

18 (II) if applicable, during the 1- 

19 year period beginning with the 1st 

20 date on which such State recognized 

21 same-sex marriages, civil unions, or 

22 registered domestic partnerships; and 

23 (B) provides a sworn affidavit that such 

24 parent was married to, or in a domestic part25 nership with, such individual throughout the 1- 


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1 year period ending on the date of the applica2 tion for child’s insurance benefits. 

3 SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES IN LAW; OUTREACH 

4 CAMPAIGN. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of 

7 Social Security shall conduct a comprehensive and effec8 tive 3-year outreach campaign to encourage individuals 

9 newly eligible for benefits under title II of the Social Secu10 rity Act as a result of changes in law relating to same11 sex marriage and occurring on or after June 26, 2013, 

12 including this Act and the amendments made thereby, to 

13 apply for such benefits. Such outreach campaign shall in14 clude direct notification regarding such changes in law to 

15 current beneficiaries and to individuals approaching retire16 ment. 

17 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Decem18 ber 31 of each of the 1st 3 calendar years beginning after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner 

20 of Social Security shall submit to the Committee on Ways 

21 and Means of the House of Representatives, the Com22 mittee on Finance of the Senate, and the Committees on 

23 Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 

24 Senate a report that includes— 


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1 (1) a description of the educational and out2 reach activities conducted by the Commissioner of 

3 Social Security under subsection (a) during the pre4 ceding year; 

5 (2) the number of applications for benefits 

6 under title II of the Social Security Act filed as a 

7 result of changes in law relating to same-sex mar8 riage and occurring on or after June 26, 2013, in9 cluding this Act and the amendments made thereby, 

10 in the preceding year; and 

11 (3) the number of such applications which re12 sulted in entitlement to benefits. 

Æ 


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