[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2249 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2249

     To amend title VII of the Social Security Act to require the 
  Commissioner of Social Security to provide Congress with an annual 
     report on the social security program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 20, 2000

 Mr. Gregg (for himself, Mr. Kerrey, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Bayh) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                               on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend title VII of the Social Security Act to require the 
  Commissioner of Social Security to provide Congress with an annual 
     report on the social security program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Social Security Reporting 
Improvements Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Social Security Advisory Board, the Technical Panel 
        on Assumptions and Methods of the Social Security Advisory 
        Board (in this Act referred to as the ``Panel''), and the 
        Office of the Chief Actuary of the Social Security 
        Administration should be commended for their professional, 
        nonpartisan work to project the future financial operations of 
        the social security program established under title II of the 
        Social Security Act.
            (2) The Panel reported its recommendations in November 
        1999.
            (3) The Panel recommended a series of changes to current 
        projections of the financial operations of the social security 
        program which would, if adopted, increase existing estimates of 
        the program's unfunded obligations.
            (4) The Panel further recommended the use of standards of 
        comparison that emphasize program sustainability, such as 
        showing the program's projected annual income rates, cost 
        rates, and balances with an emphasis that is equal to 75-year 
        program solvency.
            (5) The Panel further recommended that reform proposals be 
        evaluated using standards of comparison that include the 
        proposal's impact on the Federal unified budget, as well as a 
        recognition of the funding shortfalls present under current 
        law.
            (6) The Panel made several other recommendations that are 
        worthy of consideration, involving issues that include, but are 
        not limited to, workforce participation, poverty rates among 
        the elderly, and assumptions regarding equity investment 
        returns.
            (7) Adoption of the Panel's recommendations would assist in 
        developing a fiscally responsible reform solution that avoids 
        passing hidden costs to future taxpayers.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT FROM THE COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY.

    (a) In General.--Section 704 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
904) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

                      ``Annual Report to Congress

    ``(f) The Commissioner, in conjunction with the Secretary, the 
Secretary of the Treasury, and the Director of the Office of Management 
and Budget, shall submit an annual report to Congress that includes the 
following:
            ``(1) Projections of the old-age, survivors, and disability 
        insurance program's (in this subsection referred to as the 
        `program') annual income rates, cost rates, and annual balances 
        throughout the 75-year valuation window used by the Board of 
        Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance 
Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund (in this 
subsection referred to as the `Board of Trustees').
            ``(2) A clear and explicit presentation of the program's 
        financing shortfalls, expressed as the excess in dollars of 
        program outlays over revenues, in years that the sum of payroll 
        tax revenues and revenues resulting from taxes imposed on 
        benefits provided under the program are projected by the Board 
        of Trustees to be less than program outlays.
            ``(3) A presentation of benefit levels under the program 
        and tax rates throughout the long-range valuation period used 
        by the Board of Trustees that reflects the extent to which 
        benefits would need to be reduced to be funded under currently 
        projected program revenues, and the percentage that taxes would 
        need to be increased in order to fund promised benefits.
            ``(4) An evaluation of the effects upon national savings 
        levels and on the fiscal operations of the Federal Government 
        of enacted provisions of law relating to the program.
            ``(5) Estimates of average lifetime values of benefits for 
        different age, income, and gender cohorts, respectively, for 
        recipients of benefits under the program, that are consistent 
        with the estimates of the Board of Trustees of the percentage 
        of benefits that can be funded under such enacted provisions of 
        law.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to reports made for calendar years beginning after 
the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM LEGISLATION.

    It is the sense of Congress that Congress and the President should 
not miss a critical opportunity to enact comprehensive bipartisan 
social security reform legislation that meets the standard of 75-year 
actuarial solvency and also addresses the following issues:
            (1) The permanent sustainability of the social security 
        program.
            (2) The long-term impact of reform upon the fiscal 
        operations of the Federal Government as a whole.
            (3) The need for a clear and explicit presentation of the 
        anticipated reduction in the social security program's unfunded 
        obligations.
            (4) Ensured continued solvency under alternative 
        assumptions regarding mortality, fertility, rates of return, 
        and other appropriate economic and demographic assumptions.
            (5) The total amount of retirement income provided under 
        proposed reform in comparison to a standard that explicitly 
        recognizes the benefit reductions or tax increases that enacted 
        provisions of law relating to the social security program would 
        require, according to the estimates in the most recent report 
        of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors 
        Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust 
        Fund.
            (6) The long-term impact of the current projections of 
        insolvency and of alternative reform proposals upon workforce 
        participation, poverty among the elderly, national savings 
        levels, and other issues identified by the Panel.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the recommendations of the Panel 
should be implemented to the extent deemed reasonable by the Board of 
Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and 
the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, in consultation with the 
agencies and offices that have research, estimating, and reporting 
responsibilities pertinent to the social security program.
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