118 S5568 IS: Eliminating the Marriage Penalty in SSI Act U.S. Senate 2024-12-17 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

II118th CONGRESS2d SessionS. 5568IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESDecember 17 (legislative day, December 16), 2024Mr. Moran (for himself and Mr. Van Hollen) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on FinanceA BILLTo amend title XVI of the Social Security Act to provide that the supplemental security income benefits of adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities shall not be reduced by reason of marriage.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Eliminating the Marriage Penalty in SSI Act or the EMPSA Act.

2.

Supplemental security income benefits

(a)

Eligibility for benefits

Section 1611(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:(4)Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), each individual—(A)who has attained 18 years of age, (B)who is diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability, (C)whose income, other than income excluded pursuant to section 1612(b), is at a rate of not more than the applicable amount determined under paragraph (1)(A), and (D)whose resources, other than resources excluded pursuant to section 1613(a), are not more than the applicable amount determined under paragraph (3)(B),shall be an eligible individual for purposes of this title..(b)

Amount of benefit

Section 1611(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:(3)Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), the benefit under this title for an individual described in subsection (a)(4), whether or not the individual has an eligible spouse, shall be payable at the rate in effect for purposes of paragraph (1), reduced by the amount of income, not excluded pursuant to section 1612(b), of such individual..(c)

Income and resource deeming rules

Section 1614(f) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1382c(f)) is amended by adding at the end the following:(5)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for purposes of determining eligibility for, and the amount of, benefits for an individual described in section 1611(a)(4) who is married, such individual's income and resources shall be deemed to not include any income or resources of such spouse..(d)

Effective date

The amendments made by this section shall apply to benefits payable for months that begin more than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.