[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 276 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 276

 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation 
 upon the amount of outside income which an individual may earn while 
      receiving benefits under such title, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 2005

   Mr. Gene Green of Texas 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 remove the limitation 
 upon the amount of outside income which an individual may earn while 
      receiving benefits under such title, 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 Earnings Test Repeal 
Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF PROVISIONS RELATING TO DEDUCTIONS ON ACCOUNT OF WORK.

    (a) In General.--Subsections (b), (c)(1), (d), (f), (h), (j), and 
(k) of section 203 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 403) are 
repealed.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 203 of such Act (as amended by 
subsection (a)) is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (c), by redesignating such subsection as 
        subsection (b), and
                    (A) by striking ``Noncovered Work Outside the 
                United States or'' in the heading;
                    (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) 
                as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively;
                    (C) by striking ``For purposes of paragraphs (2), 
                (3), and (4)'' and inserting ``For purposes of 
                paragraphs (1), (2), and (3)''; and
                    (D) by striking the last sentence;
            (2) in subsection (e), by redesignating such subsection as 
        subsection (c), and by striking ``subsections (c) and (d)'' and 
        inserting ``subsection (b)'';
            (3) in subsection (g), by redesignating such subsection as 
        subsection (d), and by striking ``subsection (c)'' each place 
        it appears and inserting ``subsection (b)''; and
            (4) in subsection (l), by redesignating such subsection as 
        subsection (e), and by striking ``subsection (g) or (h)(1)(A)'' 
        and inserting ``subsection (d)''.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Provisions Relating to Benefits Terminated Upon Deportation.--
Section 202(n)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(n)(1)) is 
amended by striking ``Section 203 (b), (c), and (d)'' and inserting 
``Section 203(b)''.
    (b) Provisions Relating to Exemptions From Reductions Based on 
Early Retirement.--
            (1) Section 202(q)(5)(B) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        402(q)(5)(B)) is amended by striking ``section 203(c)(2)'' and 
        inserting ``section 203(b)(1)''.
            (2) Section 202(q)(7)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
        402(q)(7)(A)) is amended by striking ``deductions under section 
        203(b), 203(c)(1), 203(d)(1), or 222(b)'' and inserting 
        ``deductions on account of work under section 203 or deductions 
        under section 222(b)''.
    (c) Provisions Relating to Exemptions From Reductions Based on 
Disregard of Certain Entitlements to Child's Insurance Benefits.--
            (1) Section 202(s)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 402(s)(1)) is 
        amended by striking ``paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of section 
        203(c)'' and inserting ``paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of 
        section 203(b)''.
            (2) Section 202(s)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 402(s)(3)) is 
        amended by striking ``The last sentence of subsection (c) of 
        section 203, subsection (f)(1)(C) of section 203, and 
        subsections'' and inserting ``Subsections''.
    (d) Provisions Relating to Suspension of Aliens' Benefits.--Section 
202(t)(7) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 402(t)(7)) is amended by striking 
``Subsections (b), (c), and (d)'' and inserting ``Subsection (b)''.
    (e) Provisions Relating to Reductions in Benefits Based on Maximum 
Benefits.--Section 203(a)(3)(B)(iii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
403(a)(3)(B)(iii)) is amended by striking ``and subsections (b), (c), 
and (d)'' and inserting ``and subsection (b)''.
    (f) Provisions Relating to Penalties for Misrepresentations 
Concerning Earnings for Periods Subject to Deductions on Account of 
Work.--Section 208(a)(1)(C) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 408(a)(1)(C)) is 
amended by striking ``under section 203(f) of this title for purposes 
of deductions from benefits'' and inserting ``under section 203 for 
purposes of deductions from benefits on account of work''.
    (g) Provisions Taking Into Account Earnings in Determining Benefit 
Computation Years.--Clause (I) in the next to last sentence of section 
215(b)(2)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(b)(2)(A)) is amended by 
striking ``no earnings as described in section 203(f)(5) in such year'' 
and inserting ``no wages, and no net earnings from self-employment (in 
excess of net loss from self-employment), in such year''.
    (h) Provisions Relating to Rounding of Benefits.--Section 215(g) of 
such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(g)) is amended by striking ``and any deduction 
under section 203(b)''.
    (i) Provisions Relating to Earnings Taken Into Account in 
Determining Substantial Gainful Activity of Blind Individuals.--The 
second sentence of section 223(d)(4)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 
423(d)(4)(A)) is amended by striking ``if section 102 of the Senior 
Citizens Right to Work Act of 1996 had not been enacted'' and inserting 
the following: ``if the amendments to section 203 made by section 102 
of the Senior Citizens Right to Work Act of 1996 and by the Social 
Security Earnings Test Repeal Act of 2005 had not been enacted''.
    (j) Provisions Defining Income for Purposes of SSI.--Section 
1612(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382a(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``as determined under section 
        203(f)(5)(C)'' in paragraph (1)(A) and inserting ``as defined 
        in the last two sentences of this subsection''; and
            (2) by adding at the end (after and below paragraph (2)(G)) 
        the following:
``For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), the term `wages' means wages as 
defined in section 209, but computed without regard to the limitations 
as to amounts of remuneration specified in paragraphs (1), (6)(B), 
(6)(C), (7)(B), and (8) of section 209(a). In making the computation 
under the preceding sentence, (A) services which do not constitute 
employment as defined in section 210, performed within the United 
States by an individual as an employee or performed outside the United 
States in the active military or naval services of the United States, 
shall be deemed to be employment as so defined if the remuneration for 
such services is not includible in computing the individual's net 
earnings or net loss from self-employment for purposes of title II, and 
(B) the term `wages' shall be deemed not to include (i) the amount of 
any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or any of his or her 
dependents (including any amount paid by an employer for insurance or 
annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such payment) on account 
of retirement, or (ii) any payment or series of payments by an employer 
to an employee or any of his or her dependents upon or after the 
termination of the employee's employment relationship because of 
retirement after attaining an age specified in a plan referred to in 
section 209(a)(11)(B) or in a pension plan of the employer.''.
    (k) Repeal of Deductions on Account of Work Under the Railroad 
Retirement Program.--
            (1) In general.--Section 2 of the Railroad Retirement Act 
        of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231a) is amended--
                    (A) by striking subsections (f); and
                    (B) by striking subsection (g)(2) and by 
                redesignating subsection (g)(1) as subsection (g).
            (2) Conforming amendments.--
                    (A) Section 3(f)(1) of such Act (45 U.S.C. 
                231b(f)(1)) is amended in the first sentence by 
                striking ``before any reductions under the provisions 
                of section 2(f) of this Act,''.
                    (B) Section 4(g)(2) of such Act (45 U.S.C. 
                231c(g)(2)) is amended--
                            (i) in clause (i), by striking ``shall, 
                        before any deductions under section 2(g) of 
                        this Act,'' and inserting ``shall''; and
                            (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ``any 
                        deductions under section 2(g) of this Act and 
                        before''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments and repeals made by this Act shall apply with 
respect to taxable years ending on or after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.
                                 <all>