II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2249

To amend title VII of the Social Security Act to require the Commissioner

of Social Security to provide Congress with an annual report on the

social security program, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 20, 2000

Mr. GREGG (for himself, Mr. KERREY, Mr. BREAUX, Mr. BAYH) introduced

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

on Finance

A BILL

To amend title VII of the Social Security Act to require

the Commissioner of Social Security to provide Congress

with an annual report on the social security program,

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 Report5 ing Improvements Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:
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1 (1) The Social Security Advisory Board, the

2 Technical Panel on Assumptions and Methods of the

3 Social Security Advisory Board (in this Act referred

4 to as the ‘‘Panel’’), and the Office of the Chief Actu5 ary of the Social Security Administration should be

6 commended for their professional, nonpartisan work

7 to project the future financial operations of the so8 cial security program established under title II of

9 the Social Security Act.

10 (2) The Panel reported its recommendations in

11 November 1999.

12 (3) The Panel recommended a series of changes

13 to current projections of the financial operations of

14 the social security program which would, if adopted,

15 increase existing estimates of the program’s un16 funded obligations.

17 (4) The Panel further recommended the use of

18 standards of comparison that emphasize program

19 sustainability, such as showing the program’s pro20 jected annual income rates, cost rates, and balances

21 with an emphasis that is equal to 75-year program

22 solvency.

23 (5) The Panel further recommended that re24 form proposals be evaluated using standards of com25 parison that include the proposal’s impact on the
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1 Federal unified budget, as well as a recognition of

2 the funding shortfalls present under current law.

3 (6) The Panel made several other recommenda4 tions that are worthy of consideration, involving

5 issues that include, but are not limited to, workforce

6 participation, poverty rates among the elderly, and

7 assumptions regarding equity investment returns.

8 (7) Adoption of the Panel’s recommendations

9 would assist in developing a fiscally responsible re10 form solution that avoids passing hidden costs to fu11 ture taxpayers.

12 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT FROM THE COMMISSIONER OF SO13 CIAL SECURITY.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 704 of the Social Security

15 Act (42 U.S.C. 904) is amended by adding at the end the

16 following new subsection:

17 ‘‘Annual Report to Congress

18 ‘‘(f) The Commissioner, in conjunction with the Sec19 retary, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Director

20 of the Office of Management and Budget, shall submit an

21 annual report to Congress that includes the following:

22 ‘‘(1) Projections of the old-age, survivors, and

23 disability insurance program’s (in this subsection re24 ferred to as the ‘program’) annual income rates, cost

25 rates, and annual balances throughout the 75-year
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1 valuation window used by the Board of Trustees of

2 the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust

3 Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust

4 Fund (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Board

5 of Trustees’).

6 ‘‘(2) A clear and explicit presentation of the

7 program’s financing shortfalls, expressed as the ex8 cess in dollars of program outlays over revenues, in

9 years that the sum of payroll tax revenues and reve10 nues resulting from taxes imposed on benefits pro11 vided under the program are projected by the Board

12 of Trustees to be less than program outlays.

13 ‘‘(3) A presentation of benefit levels under the

14 program and tax rates throughout the long-range

15 valuation period used by the Board of Trustees that

16 reflects the extent to which benefits would need to

17 be reduced to be funded under currently projected

18 program revenues, and the percentage that taxes

19 would need to be increased in order to fund prom20 ised benefits.

21 ‘‘(4) An evaluation of the effects upon national

22 savings levels and on the fiscal operations of the

23 Federal Government of enacted provisions of law re24 lating to the program.
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1 ‘‘(5) Estimates of average lifetime values of

2 benefits for different age, income, and gender co3 horts, respectively, for recipients of benefits under

4 the program, that are consistent with the estimates

5 of the Board of Trustees of the percentage of bene6 fits that can be funded under such enacted provi7 sions of law.’’.

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

9 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to reports made

10 for calendar years beginning after the date of enactment

11 of this Act.

12 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING SOCIAL SECU13 RITY REFORM LEGISLATION.

14 It is the sense of Congress that Congress and the

15 President should not miss a critical opportunity to enact

16 comprehensive bipartisan social security reform legislation

17 that meets the standard of 75-year actuarial solvency and

18 also addresses the following issues:

19 (1) The permanent sustainability of the social

20 security program.

21 (2) The long-term impact of reform upon the

22 fiscal operations of the Federal Government as a

23 whole.
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1 (3) The need for a clear and explicit presen2 tation of the anticipated reduction in the social secu3 rity program’s unfunded obligations.

4 (4) Ensured continued solvency under alter5 native assumptions regarding mortality, fertility,

6 rates of return, and other appropriate economic and

7 demographic assumptions.

8 (5) The total amount of retirement income pro9 vided under proposed reform in comparison to a

10 standard that explicitly recognizes the benefit reduc11 tions or tax increases that enacted provisions of law

12 relating to the social security program would re13 quire, according to the estimates in the most recent

14 report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old15 Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the

16 Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund.

17 (6) The long-term impact of the current projec18 tions of insolvency and of alternative reform pro19 posals upon workforce participation, poverty among

20 the elderly, national savings levels, and other issues

21 identified by the Panel.

22 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING IMPLEMENTA23 TION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.

24 It is the sense of Congress that the recommendations

25 of the Panel should be implemented to the extent deemed
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1 reasonable by the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old2 Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal

3 Disability Insurance Trust Fund, in consultation with the

4 agencies and offices that have research, estimating, and

5 reporting responsibilities pertinent to the social security

6 program.

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