I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 276
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation upon 
the amount of outside income which an individual may earn while receiv-
ing benefits under such title, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2005
Mr. GENE GREEN 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 remove 
the limitation upon the amount of outside income which 
an individual may earn while receiving benefits under 
such title, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security Earn-
ings Test Repeal Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. REPEAL OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO DEDUC-
TIONS ON ACCOUNT OF WORK. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsections (b), (c)(1), (d), (f), 
(h), (j), and (k) of section 203 of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 403) are repealed. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 203 of 
such Act (as amended by subsection (a)) is further amend-
ed—
(1) in subsection (c), by redesignating such sub-
section as subsection (b), and 
(A) by striking ‘‘Noncovered Work Outside 
the United States or’’ in the heading; 
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), 
and (4) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respec-
tively; 
(C) by striking ‘‘For purposes of para-
graphs (2), (3), and (4)’’ and inserting ‘‘For 
purposes of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3)’’; and 
(D) by striking the last sentence; 
(2) in subsection (e), by redesignating such sub-
section as subsection (c), and by striking ‘‘sub-
sections (c) and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; 
(3) in subsection (g), by redesignating such 
subsection as subsection (d), and by striking ‘‘sub-
section (c)’’ each place it appears and inserting 
‘‘subsection (b)’’; and
(4) in subsection (l), by redesignating such sub-
section as subsection (e), and by striking ‘‘sub-
section (g) or (h)(1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 
(d)’’. 
SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 
(a) PROVISIONS RELATING
TO BENEFITS TERMI-
NATED UPON DEPORTATION.—Section 202(n)(1) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(n)(1)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘Section 203 (b), (c), and (d)’’ and inserting 
‘‘Section 203(b)’’. 
(b) PROVISIONS RELATING TO EXEMPTIONS FROM 
REDUCTIONS BASED ON EARLY RETIREMENT.—
(1) Section 202(q)(5)(B) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 402(q)(5)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘sec-
tion 203(c)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 203(b)(1)’’. 
(2) Section 202(q)(7)(A) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 402(q)(7)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘de-
ductions under section 203(b), 203(c)(1), 203(d)(1), 
or 222(b)’’ and inserting ‘‘deductions on account of 
work under section 203 or deductions under section 
222(b)’’. 
(c) PROVISIONS RELATING TO EXEMPTIONS FROM 
REDUCTIONS BASED ON DISREGARD OF CERTAIN ENTI-
TLEMENTS TO CHILD’S INSURANCE BENEFITS.—
(1) Section 202(s)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
402(s)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘paragraphs (2), 
(3), and (4) of section 203(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘para-
graphs (1), (2), and (3) of section 203(b)’’. 
(2) Section 202(s)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
402(s)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘The last sen-
tence of subsection (c) of section 203, subsection 
(f)(1)(C) of section 203, and subsections’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Subsections’’. 
(d) PROVISIONS
RELATING
TO
SUSPENSION
OF 
ALIENS’ BENEFITS.—Section 202(t)(7) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 402(t)(7)) is amended by striking ‘‘Subsections 
(b), (c), and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subsection (b)’’. 
(e) PROVISIONS RELATING TO REDUCTIONS IN BEN-
EFITS
BASED
ON
MAXIMUM
BENEFITS.—Section 
203(a)(3)(B)(iii) 
of 
such 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 
403(a)(3)(B)(iii)) is amended by striking ‘‘and subsections 
(b), (c), and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘and subsection (b)’’. 
(f) PROVISIONS RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR MIS-
REPRESENTATIONS CONCERNING EARNINGS FOR PERI-
ODS SUBJECT TO DEDUCTIONS ON ACCOUNT OF WORK.—
Section 
208(a)(1)(C) 
of 
such 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 
408(a)(1)(C)) is amended by striking ‘‘under section 
203(f) of this title for purposes of deductions from bene-
fits’’ and inserting ‘‘under section 203 for purposes of de-
ductions from benefits on account of work’’. 
(g) PROVISIONS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT EARNINGS 
IN
DETERMINING
BENEFIT
COMPUTATION
YEARS.—
Clause (I) in the next to last sentence of section 
215(b)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(b)(2)(A)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘no earnings as described in section 
203(f)(5) in such year’’ and inserting ‘‘no wages, and no 
net earnings from self-employment (in excess of net loss 
from self-employment), in such year’’. 
(h) PROVISIONS RELATING TO ROUNDING OF BENE-
FITS.—Section 215(g) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(g)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘and any deduction under section 
203(b)’’. 
(i) PROVISIONS RELATING
TO EARNINGS TAKEN 
INTO ACCOUNT IN DETERMINING SUBSTANTIAL GAINFUL 
ACTIVITY OF BLIND INDIVIDUALS.—The second sentence 
of section 223(d)(4)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
423(d)(4)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘if section 102 of 
the Senior Citizens Right to Work Act of 1996 had not 
been enacted’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘if the amend-
ments to section 203 made by section 102 of the Senior 
Citizens Right to Work Act of 1996 and by the Social Se-
curity Earnings Test Repeal Act of 2005 had not been 
enacted’’.
(j) PROVISIONS DEFINING INCOME FOR PURPOSES 
OF
SSI.—Section 1612(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
1382a(a)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘as determined under section 
203(f)(5)(C)’’ in paragraph (1)(A) and inserting ‘‘as 
defined in the last two sentences of this subsection’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end (after and below para-
graph (2)(G)) the following: 
‘‘For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), the term ‘wages’ 
means wages as defined in section 209, but computed 
without regard to the limitations as to amounts of remu-
neration specified in paragraphs (1), (6)(B), (6)(C), 
(7)(B), and (8) of section 209(a). In making the computa-
tion under the preceding sentence, (A) services which do 
not constitute employment as defined in section 210, per-
formed within the United States by an individual as an 
employee or performed outside the United States in the 
active military or naval services of the United States, shall 
be deemed to be employment as so defined if the remu-
neration for such services is not includible in computing 
the individual’s net earnings or net loss from self-employ-
ment for purposes of title II, and (B) the term ‘wages’ 
shall be deemed not to include (i) the amount of any pay-
ment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or any of his
or her dependents (including any amount paid by an em-
ployer for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to pro-
vide for any such payment) on account of retirement, or 
(ii) any payment or series of payments by an employer 
to an employee or any of his or her dependents upon or 
after the termination of the employee’s employment rela-
tionship because of retirement after attaining an age spec-
ified in a plan referred to in section 209(a)(11)(B) or in 
a pension plan of the employer.’’. 
(k) REPEAL OF DEDUCTIONS ON ACCOUNT OF WORK 
UNDER THE RAILROAD RETIREMENT PROGRAM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2 of the Railroad 
Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231a) is amend-
ed—
(A) by striking subsections (f); and 
(B) by striking subsection (g)(2) and by 
redesignating subsection (g)(1) as subsection 
(g). 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(A) Section 3(f)(1) of such Act (45 U.S.C. 
231b(f)(1)) is amended in the first sentence by 
striking ‘‘before any reductions under the provi-
sions of section 2(f) of this Act,’’. 
(B) Section 4(g)(2) of such Act (45 U.S.C. 
231c(g)(2)) is amended—
(i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘shall, be-
fore any deductions under section 2(g) of 
this Act,’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’; and 
(ii) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘any de-
ductions under section 2(g) of this Act and 
before’’. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The amendments and repeals made by this Act shall 
apply with respect to taxable years ending on or after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
Æ