I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 201
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to phase out the earnings
test over a 5-year period for individuals who have attained retirement
age, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 4, 1995
Mr. COBLE 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 phase out
the earnings test over a 5-year period for individuals
who have attained retirement age, and for other pur-
poses.
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 ‘‘Older Workers’ Earn-
ings Protection Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. LIBERALIZATION OF EARNINGS TEST OVER THE PE-
RIOD 1997–2001 FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE
ATTAINED RETIREMENT AGE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Effective with respect to taxable
years ending after 1996, subparagraph (D) of section
203(f)(8) of the Social Security Act is amended to read
as follows:
‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other provision of
this subsection, the exempt amount for a taxable
year ending in a calendar year after 1996 which is
applicable to an individual who has attained retire-
ment age (as defined in section 216(l)) before the
close of the taxable year involved shall be an amount
equal to the exempt amount which was applicable to
individuals described in this subparagraph for tax-
able years ending in the preceding calendar year,
plus $3,000.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The second sen-
tence of section 223(d)(4)(A) of such Act is amended by
striking ‘‘which is applicable to individuals described in
subparagraph (D) thereof’’ and inserting ‘‘which would be
applicable to individuals who have attained retirement age
(as defined in section 216(l)) before the close of the tax-
able year involved if the amendments made by the Social
Security Earnings Test Repeal Act of 1995 had not been
enacted.’’.
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF EARNINGS TEST IN THE YEAR 2002 FOR
INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE ATTAINED RETIRE-
MENT AGE.
Effective with respect to taxable years ending after
2001—
(1) clause (B) in the third sentence of section
203(f)(1) of the Social Security Act is amended by
striking ‘‘age seventy’’ and inserting ‘‘retirement age
(as defined in section 216(l))’’; and
(2) section 203(f)(3) of such Act is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘331⁄3 percent’’ and all
that follows through ‘‘multiplied by the number
of months in such year’’ and inserting ‘‘50 per-
cent of his earnings for such year in excess of
the product derived by multiplying the applica-
ble exempt amount as determined under para-
graph (8) by the number of months in such
year’’, and
(B) by striking ‘‘age 70’’ and inserting
‘‘retirement age (as defined in section 216(l))’’.
SEC. 4. CONFORMING AND RELATED AMENDMENTS.
Effective with respect to taxable years ending after
2001—
(1) section 203(c)(1) of the Social Security Act
is amended by striking ‘‘is under the age of seventy’’
and inserting ‘‘is under retirement age (as defined
in section 216(l))’’;
(2) the last sentence of subsection (c) of section
203 of such Act is amended by striking ‘‘nor shall
any deduction’’ and all that follows and inserting
‘‘nor shall any deduction be made under this sub-
section from any widow’s or widower’s insurance
benefit if the widow, surviving divorced wife, wid-
ower, or surviving divorced husband involved became
entitled to such benefit prior to attaining age 60.’’;
(3) paragraphs (1)(A) and (2) of section 203(d)
of such Act are each amended by striking ‘‘under
the age of seventy’’ and inserting ‘‘under retirement
age (as defined in section 216(l))’’;
(4) section 203(f)(1) of such Act is amended by
striking clause (D) and inserting the following: ‘‘(D)
for which such individual is entitled to widow’s or
widower’s insurance benefits if such individual be-
came so entitled prior to attaining age 60, or’’;
(5) subparagraph (D) of section 203(f)(5) of
such Act is amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘(D) In the case of’’ and
all that follows down through ‘‘(ii) an individ-
ual’’ and inserting the following:
‘‘(D) In the case of an individual’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘became entitled to such
benefits’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘be-
came entitled to such benefits, there shall be ex-
cluded from gross income any such other in-
come.’’;
(6) section 203(f)(8)(A) of such Act is amended
by striking ‘‘the new exempt amounts (separately
stated for individuals described in subparagraph (D)
and for other individuals) which are to be applica-
ble’’ and inserting ‘‘the new exempt amount which
is to be applicable’’;
(7) section 203(f)(8)(B) of such Act is amend-
ed—
(A) by striking all that precedes clause (i)
and inserting the following:
‘‘(B) The exempt amount which is applicable
for each month of a particular taxable year shall be
whichever of the following is the larger—’’;
(B) by striking ‘‘corresponding’’ in clause
(i); and
(C) by striking ‘‘an exempt amount’’ in the
matter following clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘the
exempt amount’’;
(8) section 203(f)(8)(D) of such Act (as amend-
ed by section 2(a) of this Act) is repealed;
(9) section 203(f)(9) of such Act is repealed;
(10) section 203(h)(1)(A) of such Act is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘age 70’’ each place it appears and
inserting ‘‘retirement age (as defined in section
216(l))’’;
(11) section 203(j) of such Act is amended to
read as follows:
‘‘Attainment of Retirement Age
‘‘(j) For purposes of this section—
‘‘(1) an individual shall be considered as having
attained retirement age (as defined in section
216(l)) during the entire month in which he attains
such age; and
‘‘(2) the term ‘retirement age (as defined in
section 216(l))’, with respect to any individual enti-
tled to monthly insurance benefits under section
202, means the retirement age (as so defined) which
is applicable in the case of old-age insurance bene-
fits, regardless of whether or not the particular ben-
efits to which the individual is entitled (or the only
such benefits) are old-age insurance benefits.’’; and
(12) section 202(w)(2)(B)(ii) of such Act is
amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘either’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘or suffered deductions
under section 203(b) or 203(c) in amounts
equal to the amount of such benefit’’.
SEC. 5. ACCELERATION OF 8 PERCENT DELAYED RETIRE-
MENT CREDIT.
Paragraph (6) of section 202(w) of the Social Secu-
rity Act is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘2005’’ in subparagraph (C)
and inserting ‘‘1997’’; and
(2) by striking ‘‘2004’’ in subparagraph (D)
and inserting ‘‘1996’’.
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