Evening star., 1935-03-17
SOCIAL SECURITY
REDRAFT FINISHED
Rewritten Omnibus Bill
Scheduled for Early
House Action.
BY JOHN C. HENRY.

HeWTlIlHS VI IIle WdSllcA &c
omnibus social security bill was COM
pleted yesterday and after what is ex-
pected to be brief consideration by the
Ways and Means Committee, the re-
vised measure will be reported out on
the floor of the House, probably with
in a few days.
With the bonus issue expected to
be monopolizing the attention of the
House at that time, Speaker Byrns
said yesterday that he expects con-
sideration of the social security pro-
gram will follow this on the House
calendar. 1t probably will be brought
in under rule limiting time Of debate
but leaving the measure open to
amendment.
Although the bill has been thor
oughly reworded and some of the Sec
tions interchanged, few major re-
visions have been made in a piece
of legislation which has occupied the
attention of a special presidential
committee, many individual aides and
members of Congress for months. The
rewriting of the original bill was done
at the request of the House committee
Lewis Predicts Passage.
1.-THE social objectives of the BILL as
desired by the administration, all are
carried out in the rewritten bill.
Representative Lewis, Democrat, OF
Maryland, and one of the co-authorS
said yesterday. The rewriting was
principally for the purpose of per-
fecting the instrument. I expect the
legislation will be adopted in sub
stantially the form proposed with little
difficulty"
Among the important changes in
the bill is the removal of the Fed
eral Administrative Board from the
Jurisdiction of the Department OF
Labor and the designation of it as
an independent agency. To be known
as the Social Security Board, this
agency will administer the unemploy-
ment compensation section. as well as
the old age pension section, the latter
originally under the Federal Emer-
gency Relief Administrator.
An even more important change in
administration. however, is that re-
lating to the veto power of the Fed
eral Board over State administrations
Although it was explained that re-
moval of this concentration Of power
in the hands of a Federal agency
would encourage States to enact theiI
own social security legislation, the
charge that it would leave them more
open to local political maneuverine
was unanswered.
Two Changes in Job Insurance.
In the unemployment insurance
section, two changes are made will,
respect to the taxation features. The
first eliminates the industrial produc-
ton index computation and estab-
fishes the employer tax for the first
year at l per cent, for the seconc
year at per cent and for the thirc
and succeeding years at per cent
The second decreases the scope of the
tax in providing only for those who
employ 10 or more persons. Agricul-
tural, domestic and casual employees
are exempted.
At the same time, charitable, edu-
cational and similar non-proflt- making
institutions are specifically exempted
from taxation, thus meeting strong
objection voiced at both House and
Senate hearings against adding to
the expense of public benefit institu-
tions already cramped by the depres-
Iii ftNya
for such institutions was Dr. Cloyd H
Marvin, president Of George Washing
ton University and representing before
a Senate committee the American
Council Of Education.
In spite of criticism that there is
not sufficient incentive given to en-
courage States to enact their own
laws, the committee has done moth
ing in this direction other than re-
move the Federal boards supervisory
authority over local personnel The
opportunity to keep go per cent of
their own taxable funds within their
own States if local laws are enacted
is considered sufficient inducement
by administration leaders Added to
this is the provision of the national
legislation calling for yearly appropri-
ations to cover entire cost of admins
tering the State laws.
Opponents, among them members
of the House committee minority,
claim that crediting employers with
80 per cent of their tax will not be
a sufficiently strong influence to bring
48 State legislatures into line. Efforts
to strengthen this feature of the bill
are expected from the floor of the
House. .
Borrowing Clause Changed.
A further shifting of functions is
made in what was title 6 of the old
bill, authorizing the Federal Board to
borrow on Government certificates
for purpose of increasing the old-age
fund. This operation is placed under
jurisdiction of the Treasury Depart
ment in the rewritten bill.
A greater increase in liberalization
Of requirements for State laws is
found in the old-age assistance sec
tion of the new bill, shorter and
more elastic list of requirements being
outlined. Most important of these,
pIOUdUly, ID plOVISlOIl duOWIlS III
dividual States to set their own stand
ards of reasonable subsistence
compatible with decency and health
While Speaker Byrns, Committee
Chairman Doughton and other Demo-
cratic leaders express confidence that
the program will be enacted in SUBJ
stantially the form reported by the
committee. flood of proposed amend
ments are expected when the bill
reaches the floor. Republicans. for
instance. admitting sympathy with
the objectives of the legislation, are
expected to lead a fight to have the
measure split into individual bills
so that each of the various social
medicaments may be considered
separately. Agreement with this
course has been heard on the Demo-
cratic side also.
Minority Group to Meet.
Minority members of the commit