S 3357 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Social Security Survivor Benefits Equity Act
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to update the amount of Social Security lump sum death payments and index lump sum death payments to inflation.
Summary
This bill amends the Social Security Act to increase the lump sum death payment made to the survivors of deceased Social Security beneficiaries. It sets the payment amount at $2,900 beginning January 1, 2026. Starting in 2027, the payment amount will automatically increase each year based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, rounded to the nearest $10. The changes apply to lump sum death payments for individuals who die on or after January 1, 2026.
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)
- Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT)
6 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Peter Welch’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $8,600
- THE OLD MOUNTAIN COMPANY, INC. $3,300
- WEST FRONT STRATEGIES $2,500
- UCAR $2,300
- MINILEC SERVICE $2,000
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Peter Welch → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Dec 4, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. · senate
- Dec 4, 2025 Introduced in Senate
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.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 4, 2025
Mr. Welch (for himself, Mr. Sanders, Ms. Warren, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Booker, and Mr. Markey) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
A BILL
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to update the amount of Social Security lump sum death payments and index lump sum death payments to inflation.
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 Survivor Benefits Equity Act”.
SEC. 2. UPDATING AND INDEXING THE AMOUNT OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY LUMP SUM DEATH PAYMENT.
(a) In General.—Section 202(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(i)) is amended, in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “three times” and all that follows through “smaller,” and inserting “$2,900 (or, in the case of such an insured individual who dies in a calendar year after 2026, an amount equal to $2,900 increased by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the period that begins with October 2025 and ends with October of the calendar year preceding the calendar year involved and rounded to the nearest multiple of $10)”.
(b) Effective Date.—The amendment made by this section shall take effect on January 1, 2026, and shall apply to lump sum death payments payable under section 202(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(i)) with respect to individuals who die on or after such date. <all>
Comments