I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 886 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to apply an earnings test 

in determining the amount of monthly insurance benefits for individuals 

entitled to disability insurance benefits based on blindness. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2009 

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia 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 apply an 

earnings test in determining the amount of monthly insurance benefits for individuals entitled to disability insurance benefits based on blindness. 

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 ‘‘Blind Persons Return 

5 to Work Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF EARNINGS TEST IN DETERMINING 

2 THE AMOUNT OF MONTHLY INSURANCE BEN3 EFITS FOR BLIND BENEFICIARIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 203 of the Social Security 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 403) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘bene7 fits under section 202 for any month’’ and inserting 

8 the following: ‘‘benefits for any month under section 

9 202 or, in the case of an individual who is entitled 

10 to disability insurance benefits and whose disability 

11 consists of blindness (as defined in section 

12 216(i)(1)), under section 223’’; 

13 (2) in subsection (f)(1)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘entitled for such month 

15 under section 202’’ the following: ‘‘entitled for 

16 such month, under section 202 or, in the case 

17 of an individual who is entitled to disability in18 surance benefits and whose disability consists of 

19 blindness (as defined in section 216(i)(1)), 

20 under section 223,’’; 

21 (B) by inserting ‘‘is entitled under section 

22 202 or 223’’ after ‘‘payments to which such in23 dividual’’; and 

24 (C) by striking ‘‘subsection (a), (b), (c), 

25 (d), (e), (f), (g), or (h) of section 202 (without 

26 having been entitled for the preceding month to 


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1 a benefit under any other of such subsections)’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘the provisions of subsection (a), 

3 (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), or (h) of section 202 

4 or the provisions of section 223 (without having 

5 been entitled for the preceding month to a ben6 efit under any other of such provisions)’’; 

7 (3) in subsection (f)(3)— 

8 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(3)’’; 

9 (B) in the first sentence, by inserting 

10 ‘‘subject to subparagraphs (B) and (D),’’ after 

11 ‘‘subsection (h),’’, by striking ‘‘months in such 

12 year,’’ and inserting ‘‘months in such year.’’, 

13 and by striking ‘‘except that, in determining’’ 

14 and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), notwith16 standing section 211(e), the number of months in the tax17 able year in which an individual dies shall be 12. 

18 ‘‘(C) In determining’’; 

19 (C) by striking the sentence beginning with 

20 ‘‘For purposes of the preceding sentence,’’; 

21 (D) by redesignating the last sentence as 

22 subparagraph (E) and, in such subparagraph 

23 (E), by striking ‘‘the first sentence of’’; and 

24 (E) by inserting before subparagraph (E) 

25 (as so designated under subparagraph (D) of 


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1 this paragraph) the following new subpara2 graph: 

3 ‘‘(D) In the case of an individual who is entitled to 

4 disability insurance benefits and whose disability consists 

5 of blindness (as defined in section 216(i)(1)), the individual’s excess earnings for a taxable year shall be 331 6 ⁄3 per7 cent of his earnings for such year in excess of the exempt 

8 amount which would be applicable under paragraph (8), 

9 to individuals described in subparagraph (D) thereof, if 

10 section 102 of the Senior Citizens’ Right to Work Act of 

11 1996 had not been enacted.’’; 

12 (4) in subsection (f)(7), by inserting ‘‘or 223’’ 

13 after ‘‘section 202’’; 

14 (5) in subsection (h)(1)(A)— 

15 (A) by inserting ‘‘or 223’’ after ‘‘section 

16 202’’; and 

17 (B) by inserting ‘‘(or, as applicable, the ex18 empt amount determined under subsection 

19 (f)(3)(D))’’ after ‘‘subsection (f)(8)’’; 

20 (6) in subsection (h)(2), by inserting ‘‘or 223’’ 

21 after ‘‘section 202’’ each place it appears; and 

22 (7) in subsection (h)(3), by inserting ‘‘or 223’’ 

23 after ‘‘section 202’’ each place it appears. 

24 (b) DETERMINATION OF DISABILITY OF BLIND INDI25 VIDUALS WITHOUT REGARD TO ENGAGEMENT IN SUBVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:38 Feb 08, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H886.IH H886

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1 STANTIAL GAINFUL ACTIVITY.—Section 223(d) of such 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 423(d)) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who has at6 tained the age of 55, blindness (as defined in section 

7 216(i)(1).’’; and 

8 (2) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking the second 

9 sentence. 

10 SEC. 3. ANNUAL DETERMINATIONS OF DISABILITY BASED 

11 ON BLINDNESS. 

12 Section 221 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 421) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

14 subsection: 

15 ‘‘(n) A determination of the disability of an individual 

16 based on blindness may not be reviewed more frequently 

17 than annually.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. REDUCTION IN EXCESS EARNINGS OF BLIND BENE19 FICIARIES BY THE AMOUNT OF IMPAIRMENT 

20 RELATED WORK EXPENSES. 

21 Section 203(f)(3)(D) of the Social Security Act (as 

22 amended by section 2 of this Act) is amended— 

23 (1) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(D)’’; 

24 (2) by striking ‘‘enacted.’’ and inserting the fol25 lowing: ‘‘enacted, reduced (to not less than zero) by 


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1 the allowable amount for impairment related work 

2 expenses for the taxable year.’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

4 clause: 

5 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘al6 lowable amount for impairment related work expenses’ 

7 means, in connection with the excess earnings of an indi8 vidual for any taxable year, an amount equal to the great9 er of— 

10 ‘‘(I) 16.3 percent of such excess earnings, or 

11 ‘‘(II) the average amount of impairment related 

12 work expenses incurred by individuals entitled to dis13 ability insurance benefits during the preceding tax14 able year, as determined under regulations of the 

15 Commissioner of Social Security.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. ADJUSTMENTS TO EXTENT OF BENEFIT REDUCTION 

17 DURING THE YEAR BASED ON SIGNIFICANT 

18 CHANGES IN WORK STATUS. 

19 Section 203(h) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 403(h)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

21 new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(5) The Commissioner of Social Security shall de23 velop and implement procedures in accordance with this 

24 subsection to avoid paying less than the correct amount 

25 of benefits to any individual under this title as a result 


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1 of the occurrence during the taxable year of a termination 

2 of employment or a significant reduction in hours of 

3 work.’’. 

4 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

5 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

6 respect to disability insurance benefits for months in tax7 able years beginning after 180 days after the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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