I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7269 

To amend title II of the Social Security Act to make the Social Security 

Trustees Report process more accountable and transparent, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 12, 2018 

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas 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 make the 

Social Security Trustees Report process more accountable and transparent, 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 Trust5 ees Report Accountability, Transparency, and Improve6 ment Act of 2018’’. 

7 SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT OF THE TRUST FUNDS. 

8 Section 201(c) of the Social Security Act is amended 

9 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(c)(1) With respect to the Federal Old-Age and Sur2 vivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability 

3 Insurance Trust Fund (hereinafter in this title called the 

4 ‘Trust Funds’) there is hereby created a body to be known 

5 as the Board of Trustees of the Trust Funds (hereinafter 

6 in this title called the ‘Board of Trustees’) which Board 

7 of Trustees shall be composed of the Commissioner of So8 cial Security, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary 

9 of Labor, and the Secretary of Health and Human Serv10 ices, all ex officio, and of four members of the public (here11 inafter in this title called ‘public trustees’), to be ap12 pointed in accordance with paragraph (2). The Secretary 

13 of the Treasury shall be the Managing Trustee of the 

14 Board of Trustees (hereinafter in this title called the 

15 ‘Managing Trustee’). The Deputy Commissioner of Social 

16 Security shall serve as Secretary of the Board of Trustees. 

17 The Board of Trustees shall meet not less frequently than 

18 once each calendar year. A person serving on the Board 

19 of Trustees shall not be considered to be a fiduciary and 

20 shall not be personally liable for actions taken in such ca21 pacity with respect to the Trust Funds.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. APPOINTMENT AND TERMS OF PUBLIC TRUSTEES. 

23 Section 201(c) of the Social Security Act, as amended 

24 by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) Public trustees shall be appointed as follows: 

2 ‘‘(i) Two members (each member from a dif3 ferent political party) shall be appointed by the 

4 President pro tempore of the Senate with the advice 

5 of the Chairman and the Ranking Minority Member 

6 of the Senate Committee on Finance. 

7 ‘‘(ii) Two members (each member from a dif8 ferent political party) shall be appointed by the 

9 Speaker of the House of Representatives, with the 

10 advice of the Chairman and the Ranking Minority 

11 Member of the House Committee on Ways and 

12 Means 

13 ‘‘(B)(i) Except as provided in clause (iii), each public 

14 trustee shall serve for a term beginning on the day after 

15 the expiration of the term of such member’s predecessor 

16 and expiring on the fourth April 1 occurring during such 

17 term (or, if later, the date on which the fourth report of 

18 the Board is issued under paragraph (3)(A)(ii) during 

19 such term). 

20 ‘‘(ii) A public trustee may not serve more than two 

21 consecutive full terms. A public trustee nominated and 

22 confirmed to fill a vacancy occurring during a term shall 

23 be nominated and confirmed only for the remainder of 

24 such term. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Clause (i) shall be applied with respect to initial 

2 appointments under this paragraph— 

3 ‘‘(I) by substituting ‘first’ for ‘fourth’ each 

4 place it appears in clause (i) with respect to one of 

5 the public trustees appointed by the President pro 

6 tempore of the Senate (as designated by the Presi7 dent pro tempore of the Senate at the time of nomi8 nation); 

9 ‘‘(II) by substituting ‘second’ for ‘fourth’ each 

10 place it appears in clause (i) with respect to one of 

11 the public trustees appointed by the Speaker of the 

12 House of Representatives (as designated by the 

13 Speaker of the House of Representatives at the time 

14 of nomination); and 

15 ‘‘(III) by substituting ‘third’ for ‘fourth’ each 

16 place it appears in clause (i) with respect to one of 

17 the public trustees appointed by the President pro 

18 tempore of the Senate (as designated by the Presi19 dent pro tempore of Senate at the time of nomina20 tion).’’. 

21 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF THE BOARD AND THE PUBLIC TRUST22 EES. 

23 Section 201(c) of the Social Security Act, as amended 

24 by sections 2 and 3, is further amended by adding at the 

25 end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3)(A) It shall be the duty of the Board of Trustees 

2 to— 

3 ‘‘(i) hold the Trust Funds; 

4 ‘‘(ii) report to the Congress not later than the 

5 first day of April of each year on the operation and 

6 status of the Trust Funds during the preceding cal7 endar year (and during the preceding fiscal year) 

8 and on their expected operation and status during 

9 the next ensuing 75 calendar years (and during the 

10 next ensuing 75 fiscal years); 

11 ‘‘(iii) report immediately to the Congress when12 ever the Board of Trustees is of the opinion that the 

13 amount of either of the Trust Funds is unduly 

14 small; 

15 ‘‘(iv) recommend improvements in administra16 tive procedures and policies designed to effectuate 

17 the proper coordination of the Old-Age, Survivors, 

18 and Disability Insurance program and the Federal19 State unemployment compensation program; and 

20 ‘‘(v) review the general policies followed in man21 aging the Trust Funds, and recommend changes in 

22 such policies, including necessary changes in the 

23 provisions of the law which govern the way in which 

24 the Trust Funds are to be managed. 

25 ‘‘(B) It shall be the duty of the public trustees to— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in any case in which the Board of Trustees 

2 determines that the report provided for in subpara3 graph (A)(ii) will not be completed by the first day 

4 of April, to provide written notification of the ex5 pected issue date to the Committee on Ways and 

6 Means of the House of Representatives and the 

7 Committee on Finance of the Senate not later than 

8 the first day of March, and written notification of an 

9 updated expected issue date not later than 14 days 

10 prior to the issue date; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) at the time such report is issued, report to 

12 the Congress responding to recommendations from 

13 the Social Security Advisory Board received during 

14 the previous year regarding the techniques, meth15 odologies, actuarial assumptions, and cost estimates 

16 used in such report.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. TRUSTEES REPORT. 

18 Section 201(c) of the Social Security Act, as amended 

19 by sections 2, 3, and 4, is further amended by adding at 

20 the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(4) The report provided for in paragraph (3)(A)(ii) 

22 shall include the following: 

23 ‘‘(A) A statement of the assets of, and the dis24 bursements made from, the Trust Funds during the 

25 preceding calendar year (and during the preceding 


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1 fiscal year) and an estimate of the expected future 

2 income to, and disbursements to be made from, the 

3 Trust Funds during each of the next ensuing 75 cal4 endar years (and during the next ensuing 75 fiscal 

5 years). 

6 ‘‘(B) A statement of the actuarial status of the 

7 Trust Funds, including— 

8 ‘‘(i) a finding by the Board of Trustees as 

9 to whether the Federal Old-Age and Survivors 

10 Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Dis11 ability Insurance Trust Fund, individually and 

12 collectively, are in close actuarial balance (as 

13 defined by the Board of Trustees); and 

14 ‘‘(ii) an actuarial opinion by the Chief Ac15 tuary of the Social Security Administration cer16 tifying that the techniques and methodologies 

17 used are generally accepted within the actuarial 

18 profession and that the assumptions and cost 

19 estimates used are reasonable. 

20 ‘‘(C) An assessment of the previous annual re21 port made in the first calendar year of the 10-cal22 endar year period ending on the first day of the cal23 endar year in which such report is made comparing 

24 the projected values in such previous annual report 

25 of each demographic and economic assumption made 


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1 for each of the 10 calendar years in such period with 

2 the actual data available with respect to each such 

3 assumption for each such calendar year. 

4 ‘‘(D) An actuarial analysis of the benefit dis5 bursements made from the Federal Old-Age and 

6 Survivors Insurance Trust Fund with respect to dis7 abled beneficiaries. 

8 Such report shall be printed as a House document of the 

9 session of the Congress to which the report is made. Such 

10 report shall also include the full names of the attendees 

11 of the Trustees Working Group during the report’s devel12 opment.’’. 

13 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

14 The amendments make by this Act shall apply with 

15 respect to public trustees appointed for terms beginning 

16 after April 1, 2019, and with respect to reports issued for 

17 fiscal years after 2018. 

Æ 


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