Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB3974 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	2
4	4	DSESSION S. 3974
5	5	To amend title II of the Social Security Act to require the Commissioner
6	6	of Social Security to use the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Con-
7	7	sumers for purposes of determining cost-of-living adjustments under titles
8	8	II, VIII, and XVI of the Social Security Act, and for other purposes.
9	9	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
10	10	MARCH19, 2024
11	11	Mr. C
12	12	ASEY(for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. WELCH, Mr. FETTERMAN,
13	13	Mrs. G
14	14	ILLIBRAND, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which
15	15	was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
16	16	A BILL
17	17	To amend title II of the Social Security Act to require
18	18	the Commissioner of Social Security to use the Consumer
19	19	Price Index for Elderly Consumers for purposes of deter-
20	20	mining cost-of-living adjustments under titles II, VIII,
21	21	and XVI of the Social Security Act, and for other pur-
22	22	poses.
23	23	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
24	24	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
25	25	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
26	26	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Boosting Benefits and 4
27	27	COLAs for Seniors Act’’. 5
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31	31	SEC. 2. MORE ACCURATE COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT. 1
32	32	(a) I
33	33	NGENERAL.— 2
34	34	(1) I
35	35	N GENERAL.—Section 215(i)(1)(D) of the 3
36	36	Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(1)(D)) is 4
37	37	amended by striking ‘‘Consumer Price Index’’ and 5
38	38	all that follows through ‘‘such index’’ and inserting 6
39	39	‘‘Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners 7
40	40	and Clerical Workers (CPI–W, as published by the 8
41	41	Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 9
42	42	Labor) or Consumer Price Index for Elderly Con-10
43	43	sumers (CPI–E, as published by such Bureau) 11
44	44	(whichever such index results in the higher percent-12
45	45	age under this subparagraph) exceeds the same such 13
46	46	index’’. 14
47	47	(2) C
48	48	ONFORMING AMENDMENT .—Section 15
49	49	215(i)(1)(G) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 16
50	50	415(i)(1)(G)) is amended by inserting ‘‘applicable 17
51	51	for purposes of subparagraph (D)’’ after ‘‘Consumer 18
52	52	Price Index’’. 19
53	53	(b) A
54	54	PPLICATION TOPRE-1979 LAW.— 20
55	55	(1) I
56	56	N GENERAL.—Section 215(i) of the Social 21
57	57	Security Act as in effect in December 1978, and as 22
58	58	applied in certain cases under the provisions of such 23
59	59	Act as in effect after December 1978, is amended— 24
60	60	(A) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘Con-25
61	61	sumer Price Index’’ and all that follows through 26
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65	65	‘‘such index’’ and inserting ‘‘Consumer Price 1
66	66	Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical 2
67	67	Workers (CPI–W, as published by the Bureau 3
68	68	of Labor Statistics of the Department of 4
69	69	Labor) or Consumer Price Index for Elderly 5
70	70	Consumers (CPI–E, as published by such Bu-6
71	71	reau of such Department) (whichever such 7
72	72	index results in the higher per centum under 8
73	73	this subparagraph) exceeds, by not less than 3 9
74	74	per centum, the same such Index’’; and 10
75	75	(B) in paragraph (2)— 11
76	76	(i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by strik-12
77	77	ing ‘‘Consumer Price Index for such cost- 13
78	78	of-living computation quarter’’ and insert-14
79	79	ing ‘‘Consumer Price Index applicable for 15
80	80	such year under paragraph (1)(B)’’; and 16
81	81	(ii) in subparagraph (C)(i), by strik-17
82	82	ing ‘‘Consumer Price Index as published 18
83	83	for any month exceeds by 2.5 percent or 19
84	84	more the level of such index’’ and inserting 20
85	85	‘‘Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage 21
86	86	Earners and Clerical Workers or Consumer 22
87	87	Price Index for Elderly Consumers as pub-23
88	88	lished for any month exceeds by 2.5 per-24
89	89	cent or more the level of such index’’. 25
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93	93	(2) CONFORMING CHANGES .—Section 215(i)(4) 1
94	94	of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)(4)) is 2
95	95	amended— 3
96	96	(A) by striking ‘‘and by section 9001’’ and 4
97	97	inserting ‘‘, section 9001’’; and 5
98	98	(B) by inserting ‘‘and section 2 of the 6
99	99	Boosting Benefits and COLAs for Seniors Act,’’ 7
100	100	after ‘‘1986,’’. 8
101	101	(c) N
102	102	OEFFECT ONADJUSTMENTSUNDEROTHER 9
103	103	L
104	104	AWS.—Section 215(i) of the Social Security Act (42 10
105	105	U.S.C. 415(i)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-11
106	106	lowing: 12
107	107	‘‘(6) With respect to any provision of law (other than 13
108	108	in this title, title VIII, or title XVI) which provides for 14
109	109	an adjustment of an amount under such provision of law 15
110	110	in the same percentage as a cost-of-living adjustment ap-16
111	111	plied to benefit amounts under this title, such provision 17
112	112	of law shall be applied and administered as if the percent-18
113	113	age of such cost-of-living adjustment applied to benefit 19
114	114	amounts under this title were determined without regard 20
115	115	to the amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) of 21
116	116	section 2 of the Boosting Benefits and COLAs for Seniors 22
117	117	Act.’’. 23
118	118	(d) P
119	119	UBLICATION OFCONSUMERPRICEINDEX FOR 24
120	120	E
121	121	LDERLYCONSUMERS.—The Bureau of Labor Statistics 25
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125	125	of the Department of Labor shall prepare and publish an 1
126	126	index for each calendar month to be known as the ‘‘Con-2
127	127	sumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers’’ that indicates 3
128	128	changes over time in expenditures for consumption which 4
129	129	are typical for individuals in the United States who have 5
130	130	attained age 62. 6
131	131	(e) T
132	132	RANSITIONRULE.—Prior to the publication of 7
133	133	the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers (CPI– 8
134	134	E) pursuant to subsection (d), the reference to such index 9
135	135	made in each of the amendments made by subsections (a) 10
136	136	and (b) shall be deemed to be a reference to the research 11
137	137	price index prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics 12
138	138	of the Department of Labor known as the Consumer Price 13
139	139	Index for Americans 62 years of age and older (R–CPI– 14
140	140	E). 15
141	141	(f) E
142	142	FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 16
143	143	this section shall apply to determinations made with re-17
144	144	spect to cost-of-living computation quarters (as defined in 18
145	145	section 215(i)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 19
146	146	415(i)(1)(B))) ending on or after September 30, 2024. 20
147	147	Æ
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