I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3500 
To require the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, to report 
the Consumer Price Index (CPI–W) using methodology employed in 1980. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 
Mr. JONES introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To require the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of 
Labor, to report the Consumer Price Index (CPI–W) 
using methodology employed in 1980. 
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 ‘‘Honesty in Consumer 
Price Index Reporting Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Beginning in 1975, Congress required So-
cial Security retirement benefits to automatically in-
crease annually in order to provide a cost-of-living 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:10 Sep 15, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3500.IH
H3500
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
adjustment (COLA), based on increases in the Con-
sumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and 
Clerical Workers, or CPI–W, a data set issued by 
the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
(2) The Social Security Administration website 
correctly explains that the purpose of the COLA is 
‘‘to ensure that the purchasing power of Social Secu-
rity and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) bene-
fits is not eroded by inflation’’. 
(3) The CPI–W data set published by the Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics has come under criticism, as 
the BLS has made repeated changes in the method-
ology for calculation, particularly since 1980, so that 
it no longer measures maintaining a constant stand-
ard of living by reflecting changes in price of a fixed 
market basket of goods and services, but rather re-
flects the consumer substitution of less-expensive 
products and services as prices rise. 
SEC. 3. REQUIRED REPORTING OF CERTAIN CONSUMER 
PRICE INDEX DATA USING 1980 METHOD-
OLOGY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau of Labor Statistics 
shall regularly and routinely report an additional data set 
designed to replicate the Consumer Price Index for Urban 
Wage Earners and Clerical Workers or CPI–W set reflect-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:40 Sep 15, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3500.IH
H3500
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
ing a fixed market basket of goods and services, omitting 
consideration of substitution of goods and services due to 
changes in individual consumption patterns caused by 
price increases, utilizing the methodology that was em-
ployed by such Bureau in 1980. 
(b) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall 
prevent the Bureau of Labor Statistics from making 
changes in the market basket employed in the new data 
set required to be created under subsection (a) that are 
necessitated by technological changes which are fully dis-
closed to the public prior to making such changes. 
(c) TERMINATION.—The requirement in subsection 
(a) shall terminate if the Bureau of Labor Statistics ends 
its reporting of CPI–W. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
03:40 Sep 15, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H3500.IH
H3500
smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS