[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 73 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 73

   To 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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 13, 2025

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To 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.

    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 ``Eliminating the Marriage Penalty in 
SSI Act'' or ``EMPSA''.

SEC. 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.
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