[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 563 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 563

      To amend the Social Security Act to require Social Security 
Administration publications to highlight critical information relating 
 to the future financing shortfalls of the social security program, 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 19, 2001

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To amend the Social Security Act to require Social Security 
Administration publications to highlight critical information relating 
 to the future financing shortfalls of the social security program, 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 ``The Social Security Reporting 
Information and Right to Know Act of 2001''.

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 
        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. EXPANSION OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT STATEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Section 1143(a)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1320b-13(a)(2)) is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of 
subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (D) 
and inserting a semicolon, and by adding at the end the following:
            ``(E) a statement providing information that--
                    ``(i) while the old age, survivors, and disability 
                insurance program currently collects more in employer, 
                employee, and self-employment contributions than such 
                program pays out in retirement, disability, survivor, 
                and auxiliary benefits each year, such program will 
                begin to run cash flow deficits in 2015, thereafter 
                necessitating the allocation of general tax revenues in 
                order to finance promised benefits; and
                    ``(ii) the trust funds for such program contain 
                claims on future Government resources sufficient to 
                cover the deficit through 2037, but after that date, 
                the trust funds would collect sufficient revenues to 
                pay 72 percent of benefits; and
            ``(F) a statement explaining the nature of the Federal old 
        age, survivors, and disability insurance trust funds, including 
        the following: `Social Security Trust Fund balances are 
        available to finance future benefit payments and other Trust 
        Fund responsibilities only in a bookkeeping sense. They do not 
        consist of real economic assets that can be drawn down in the 
        future to fund benefits. Instead, such balances are claims on 
        the United States Treasury that, when redeemed, will have to be 
        financed by raising taxes, borrowing from the public, or 
        reducing benefits or other expenditures. The existence of large 
        Social Security Trust Fund balances, therefore, does not, by 
        itself, have any impact on the Federal Government's ability to 
        pay benefits.'.
For purposes of subparagraph (E), the dates and percentages described 
in such subparagraph shall be adjusted annually based on the 
Alternative II (Intermediate) findings of the Office of the Chief 
Actuary contained in the most recent report of the Board of 
Trustees.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to statements provided after the date of enactment 
of this Act.

SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE SOCIAL 
              SECURITY TRUST FUNDS.

    (a) In General.--Section 201(c) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 401(c)) is amended by inserting before the penultimate sentence 
the following: ``Based on the Alternative II (Intermediate) findings of 
the Office of the Chief Actuary, such report, including the report's 
summary and any items that accompany the release of such report, shall 
include in a clear and simple manner the information described in 
subsection (n)(1).''.
    (b) Additional Contents of Report.--Section 201 of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(n)(1) For purposes of subsection (c), the information described 
in this subsection is the following:
                    ``(A) An estimate of the year in which annual 
                outlays from the Trust Funds is first projected, using 
                the Trustees' intermediate estimates, to exceed the 
                annual cash income of the Trust Funds. For purposes of 
                this paragraph, annual cash income of the Trust Funds 
                shall be determined by including payroll and benefit 
                tax revenues, but not intragovernmental transfers or 
                interest income.
                    ``(B) The annual excess of such projected annual 
                outlays from the Trust Funds over the annual cash 
                income of the Trust Funds in each year, beginning with 
                the first year identified in subparagraph (A) and 
                extending through the year of projected program 
                insolvency.
                    ``(C) The aggregate amount of the annual excesses 
                identified in subparagraph (B) for the 75-year 
                projection period included in the report and the change 
                in such amount from the previous year's report.
                    ``(D) The amount of deficit or surplus that the 
                old-age, survivor, and disability insurance program 
                will run in the last year in the 75-year projection 
                period included in the report and the aggregate assets 
                and unfunded obligations contained in the Trust Funds 
                in that final projected year.
                    ``(E) The amount that payroll taxes would have to 
                be raised or benefits be reduced (both in percentage 
                terms) in order to keep the old-age, survivor, and 
                disability insurance program in annual financial 
                balance after any cumulative balances in the Trust 
                Funds are exhausted. For purposes of the preceding 
                sentence, such program shall be considered to be in 
                annual financial balance when the annual cash income of 
                the Trust Funds and annual outlays from the Trust Funds 
                are approximately equal for each year throughout the 
                75-year projection period included in the report.
                    ``(F) How the annual amounts identified in 
                subparagraph (B) would change if either raising payroll 
                taxes or reducing benefits to keep the program in 
                financial balance is delayed for 5, 10, 25, and 50 
                years.
                    ``(G) A provision explaining the nature of the 
                Trust Funds, including the following statement: `Social 
                Security Trust Fund balances are available to finance 
                future benefit payments and other Trust Fund 
                responsibilities only in a bookkeeping sense. They do 
                not consist of real economic assets that can be drawn 
                down in the future to fund benefits. Instead, such 
                balances are claims on the United States Treasury that, 
                when redeemed, will have to be financed by raising 
                taxes, borrowing from the public, or reducing benefits 
                or other expenditures. The existence of large Social 
                Security Trust Fund balances, therefore, does not, by 
                itself, have any impact on the Federal Government's 
                ability to pay benefits.'.
            ``(2) The information described in subparagraphs (B), (C), 
        and (D) of paragraph (1) shall be presented in terms of nominal 
        dollars, inflation-adjusted dollars, and present discounted 
        value in the report under subsection (c)(2), and in terms of 
        inflation-adjusted dollars in the summary of such report.
            ``(3) The Board of Trustees shall publish the economic 
        model and all relevant data that are used to make the financial 
        projections included in the report under subsection (c)(2) and 
        to make it available on the Social Security Administration 
        Internet web site. Annually, the Board of Trustees shall also 
        include in such report any changes made to the model and data 
        in the preceding 12 months.
            ``(4) The information described in paragraph (1) shall also 
        be included in a separate report to Congress to be submitted 
not later than the first day of April of each year (beginning with 
2002).''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to reports made after the date of enactment of this 
Act.

SEC. 5. 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:

                      ``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. 6. 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. 7. 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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