Text of US HB 5182 (2014)

I 113TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5182 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to provide for equal treatment of individuals in same-sex marriages, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 23, 2014 Mr. TAKANO (for himself, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. LEE of Cali- fornia, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. MCDERMOTT, and Mr. HIMES) in- troduced 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 provide for equal treatment of individuals in same-sex marriages, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Security and 4 Medicare Parity Act of 2014’’. 5 SEC. 2. DETERMINATION OF VALID MARRIAGE UNDER THE 6 SOCIAL SECURITY ACT. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 216(h)(1)(A)(i) of the So- 8 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 416(h)(1)(A)(i)) is amended 9 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Jul 26, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5182.IH H5182 tjames on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5182 IH by striking ‘‘is domiciled’’ and all that follows through 1 ‘‘the District of Columbia,’’ and inserting ‘‘and such appli- 2 cant were married (or, if such insured individual and such 3 applicant were not married in any State but were validly 4 married in another jurisdiction, the courts of any State)’’. 5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 6 this section shall apply to all final determinations of family 7 status made after June 26, 2013. 8 SEC. 3. ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF MEETING NINE-MONTH 9 REQUIREMENT FOR WIDOWS, STEP- 10 CHILDREN, OR WIDOWERS IN CERTAIN 11 CASES. 12 Section 216(k) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 13 416(k)) is amended— 14 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘in Case 15 of Accidental Death or in Case of Serviceman Dying 16 in Line of Duty, or in Case of Remarriage to the 17 Same Individual’’ and inserting ‘‘in certain cases’’; 18 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 19 end; 20 (3) in paragraph (2)(B), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the 21 end; and 22 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 23 lowing: 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Jul 26, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5182.IH H5182 tjames on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5182 IH ‘‘(3)(A) in the case of a widow or widower of 1 such individual whose marriage to such individual 2 would not have been treated as a marriage for pur- 3 poses of Federal law prior to June 26, 2013, such 4 widow or widower— 5 ‘‘(i) became the wife or husband of such 6 individual (or was deemed to be the wife or hus- 7 band of such individual under subsection 8 (h)(1)(A)(ii))— 9 ‘‘(I) if such widow or widower is domi- 10 ciled in a State that recognized same-sex 11 marriages, civil unions, or registered do- 12 mestic partnerships as of June 26, 2013, 13 before March 26, 2014; and 14 ‘‘(II) if such widow or widower is 15 domiciled in any other State— 16 ‘‘(aa) before March 26, 2014; or 17 ‘‘(bb) if applicable, during the 9- 18 month period beginning with the 1st 19 date on which such State recognized 20 same-sex marriages, civil unions, or 21 registered domestic partnerships; and 22 ‘‘(ii) provides a sworn affidavit that the 23 widow or widower was married to, or in a do- 24 mestic partnership with, such individual 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Jul 26, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5182.IH H5182 tjames on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5182 IH throughout the 9-month period ending on the 1 date of the individual’s death; or 2 ‘‘(B) the stepchild of such individual— 3 ‘‘(i) became the stepchild of such indi- 4 vidual as a result of a parent of the stepchild 5 becoming the wife or husband of such individual 6 (or being deemed to be the wife or husband of 7 such individual under subsection 8 (h)(1)(A)(ii))— 9 ‘‘(I) if such parent is domiciled in a 10 State that recognized same-sex marriages, 11 civil unions, or registered domestic part- 12 nerships as of June 26, 2013, before 13 March 26, 2014; and 14 ‘‘(II) if such parent is domiciled in 15 any other State— 16 ‘‘(aa) before March 26, 2014; or 17 ‘‘(bb) if applicable, during the 9- 18 month period beginning with the 1st 19 date on which such State recognized 20 same-sex marriages, civil unions, or 21 registered domestic partnerships; and 22 ‘‘(ii) provides a sworn affidavit that such 23 parent was married to, or in a domestic part- 24 nership with, such individual throughout the 9- 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Jul 26, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5182.IH H5182 tjames on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5182 IH month period ending on the date of the individ- 1 ual’s death;’’. 2 SEC. 4. ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF MEETING 1-YEAR RE- 3 QUIREMENT FOR WIVES, STEPCHILDREN, OR 4 HUSBANDS IN CERTAIN CASES. 5 The requirement in section 216(b)(2) of the Social 6 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 416) and the requirement in sec- 7 tion 216(f)(2) of such Act that the spouse of an individual 8 shall have been married to such individual for a period 9 of not less than 1 year immediately preceding the day on 10 which the spouse’s application for wife’s or husband’s in- 11 surance benefits is filed in order to qualify as such individ- 12 ual’s wife or husband, and the requirement in section 13 216(e)(2) of such Act that the stepchild of an individual 14 shall have been such stepchild for not less than 1 year 15 immediately preceding the day on which application for 16 child’s insurance benefits is filed in order to qualify as 17 such individual’s child, shall be deemed to be satisfied, 18 where such application is filed within the applicable 1-year 19 period, if— 20 (1) in the case of a wife or husband of such in- 21 dividual whose marriage to such individual would 22 not have been treated as a marriage for purposes of 23 Federal law prior to June 26, 2013, such wife or 24 husband— 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Jul 26, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5182.IH H5182 tjames on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5182 IH (A) became the wife or husband of such in- 1 dividual (or was deemed to be the wife or hus- 2 band of such individual under subsection 3 (h)(1)(A)(ii) of such Act)— 4 (i) if such wife or husband is domi- 5 ciled in a State that recognized same-sex 6 marriages, civil unions, or registered do- 7 mestic partnerships as of June 26, 2013, 8 before June 26, 2014; and 9 (ii) if such wife or husband is domi- 10 ciled in any other State— 11 (I) before June 26, 2014; or 12 (II) if applicable, during the 1- 13 year period beginning with the 1st 14 date on which such State recognized 15 same-sex marriages, civil unions, or 16 registered domestic partnerships; and 17 (B) provides a sworn affidavit that the 18 wife or husband was married to, or in a domes- 19 tic partnership with, such individual throughout 20 the 1-year period ending on the date of the ap- 21 plication for wife’s or husband’s insurance bene- 22 fits; or 23 (2) the stepchild of such individual— 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Jul 26, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5182.IH H5182 tjames on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5182 IH (A) became the stepchild of such individual 1 as a result of a parent of the stepchild becom- 2 ing the wife or husband of such individual (or 3 being deemed to be the wife or husband of such 4 individual under subsection (h)(1)(A)(ii) of such 5 Act)— 6 (i) if such parent is domiciled in a 7 State that recognized same-sex marriages, 8 civil unions, or registered domestic part- 9 nerships as of June 26, 2013, before June 10 26, 2014; and 11 (ii) if such parent is domiciled in any 12 other State— 13 (I) before June 26, 2014; or 14 (II) if applicable, during the 1- 15 year period beginning with the 1st 16 date on which such State recognized 17 same-sex marriages, civil unions, or 18 registered domestic partnerships; and 19 (B) provides a sworn affidavit that such 20 parent was married to, or in a domestic part- 21 nership with, such individual throughout the 1- 22 year period ending on the date of the applica- 23 tion for child’s insurance benefits. 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Jul 26, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5182.IH H5182 tjames on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5182 IH SEC. 5. NOTIFICATION OF CHANGES IN LAW; OUTREACH 1 CAMPAIGN. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the 3 date of the enactment of this Act but not later than De- 4 cember 31, 2014, the Commissioner of Social Security 5 shall conduct a comprehensive and effective 3-year out- 6 reach campaign to encourage individuals newly eligible for 7 benefits under title II of the Social Security Act as a result 8 of changes in law relating to same-sex marriage and occur- 9 ring on or after June 26, 2013, including this Act and 10 the amendments made thereby, to apply for such benefits. 11 Such outreach campaign shall include direct notification 12 regarding such changes in law to current beneficiaries and 13 to individuals approaching retirement. 14 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than Decem- 15 ber 31 of each of the 1st 3 calendar years beginning with 16 2015, the Commissioner of Social Security shall submit 17 to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 18 Representatives, the Committee on Finance of the Senate, 19 and the Committees on Appropriations of the House of 20 Representatives and the Senate a report that includes— 21 (1) a description of the educational and out- 22 reach activities conducted by the Commissioner of 23 Social Security under subsection (a) during the pre- 24 ceding year; 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Jul 26, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5182.IH H5182 tjames on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5182 IH (2) the number of applications for benefits 1 under title II of the Social Security Act filed as a 2 result of changes in law relating to same-sex mar- 3 riage and occurring on or after June 26, 2013, in- 4 cluding this Act and the amendments made thereby, 5 in the preceding year; and 6 (3) the number of such applications which re- 7 sulted in entitlement to benefits. 8 Æ VerDate Mar 15 2010 03:00 Jul 26, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5182.IH H5182 tjames on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS