SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Social Security 
Fairness Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY AGREEMENTS FOR COVERAGE OF 
SERVICES BY AMERICAN INDIAN TRIBAL 
COUNCIL MEMBERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec-
tion 218 the following new section: 
‘‘VOLUNTARY AGREEMENTS FOR COVERAGE OF INDIAN 
TRIBAL COUNCIL MEMBERS 
‘‘Purpose of Agreement 
‘‘SEC. 218A. (a)(1) The Commissioner of Social Se-
curity shall, at the request of any Indian tribe, enter into 
an agreement with such Indian tribe for the purpose of 
extending the insurance system established by this title to 
services performed by individuals as members of such In-
dian tribe’s tribal council. Any agreement with an Indian 
tribe under this section applies to all members of the tribal 
council, and shall include all services performed by individ-
uals in their capacity as council members. 
‘‘(2) Notwithstanding section 210(a), for the pur-
poses of this title, the term ‘employment’ includes any 
service included under an agreement entered into under 
this section.
‘‘Definitions 
‘‘(b) For the purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘member’ means, with respect to 
a tribal council, an individual appointed or elected to 
serve as a member or the head of the tribal council. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘tribal council’ means the ap-
pointed or elected governing body of a federally rec-
ognized Indian tribe. 
‘‘Effective Date of Agreement 
‘‘(c)(1) Any agreement under this section shall be ef-
fective with respect to services performed after an effective 
date specified in such agreement, provided that such date 
may not be earlier than the first day of the next calendar 
month after the month in which the agreement is executed 
by both parties. 
‘‘(2) At the request of the Indian tribe at the time 
of the agreement, such agreement may apply with respect 
to services performed before such effective date for which 
there were timely paid in good faith (and not subsequently 
refunded) to the Secretary of the Treasury amounts equiv-
alent to the sum of the taxes which would have been im-
posed by sections 3101 and 3111 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 had such services constituted employment 
for purposes of chapter 21 of such Code. No agreement 
under this section may require payment to be made after
the effective date specified in such agreement of any taxes 
with respect to services performed before such effective 
date. 
‘‘Duration of Agreement 
‘‘(d) No agreement under this section may be termi-
nated on or after the effective date of the agreement.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) SOCIAL SECURITY ACT.—Section 210(a) of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 410(a)) is 
amended— 
(A) in paragraph (20), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 
the end; 
(B) in paragraph (21), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(C) by inserting after paragraph (21) the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(22) Service performed by members of Indian 
tribal councils as tribal council members in the em-
ploy of an Indian tribal government, except that this 
paragraph shall not apply in the case of service in-
cluded under an agreement under section 218A.’’. 
(2) INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.—The 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 
(A) in section 3121(b)—
(i) in paragraph (20), by striking ‘‘or’’ 
at the end; 
(ii) in paragraph (21), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(iii) by inserting after paragraph (21) 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(22) service performed by members of Indian 
tribal councils as tribal council members in the em-
ploy of an Indian tribal government, except that this 
paragraph shall not apply in the case of service in-
cluded under an agreement under section 218A of 
the Social Security Act.’’; and 
(B) in section 3121(d)(4), by inserting ‘‘or 
218A’’ after ‘‘section 218’’. 
(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 
or the amendments made by this Act shall be construed 
to affect application of any Federal income tax with-
holding requirements under the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 24, 2018. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6124 
AN ACT 
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to au-
thorize voluntary agreements for coverage of In-
dian tribal council members, and for other pur-
poses.