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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.
Summary
This bill amends the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program to eliminate the "marriage penalty" for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Under current law, SSI benefits are reduced when a recipient marries because the spouse's income and resources are counted against the recipient's eligibility and benefit amount. The bill creates an exception for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities by preventing a spouse's income and resources from being counted when determining SSI eligibility or benefit amounts for these individuals. Additionally, SSI benefits for eligible adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities would be paid at the individual benefit rate regardless of marital status, with reductions based only on the beneficiary's own income. This change allows adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities to marry without losing or reducing their SSI benefits based on their spouse's financial situation.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
11 cosponsors
- Rep. Davids, Sharice [D-KS-3] (D-KS)
- Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1] (D-NC)
- Rep. Golden, Jared F. [D-ME-2] (D-ME)
- Rep. Goodlander, Maggie [D-NH-2] (D-NH)
- Rep. Gottheimer, Josh [D-NJ-5] (D-NJ)
- Rep. Harder, Josh [D-CA-9] (D-CA)
- Rep. Houlahan, Chrissy [D-PA-6] (D-PA)
- Rep. Hoyle, Val T. [D-OR-4] (D-OR)
- Rep. Johnson, Julie [D-TX-32] (D-TX)
- Rep. Lee, Susie [D-NV-3] (D-NV)
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to David G. Valadao’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for David G. Valadao → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Feb 27, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. · house
- Feb 27, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 27, 2025
Mr. Valadao (for himself and Ms. Lee of Nevada) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
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 the “EMPSA Act”.
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) of this subsection, each individual who has attained 18 years of age, who is diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability, whose income, other than income excluded pursuant to section 1612(b), is at not more than the rate in effect for purposes of paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection, and whose resources, other than resources excluded pursuant to section 1613(a), are not more than the applicable amount in effect for purposes of paragraph (3)(B) of this subsection, 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) of this subsection, the benefit under this title for an individual described in subsection
(a)(4) of this section, whether or not the individual has an eligible spouse, shall be payable at the rate in effect for purposes of such paragraph (1), reduced by the amount of income, not excluded pursuant to section 1612(b), of the 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) of this subsection, for purposes of determining eligibility for, and the amount of, benefits for an individual described in section 1611(a)(4) who is married, the income and resources of the individual is deemed to not include any income or resources of the spouse.”. <all>
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