Social Security Expansion Act
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
The Social Security Expansion Act would significantly increase Social Security benefits and fund those increases through higher taxes on high earners and investors. Benefits would rise through three changes: (1) the first bend point percentage increases from 90% to 95%, with an additional 18% boost to the first bend point amount, raising benefits for all current and future recipients; (2) cost-of-living adjustments would be calculated using the CPI-E (Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers), which typically rises faster than the standard CPI; and (3) a new minimum benefit ensures that workers with 10+ years of work receive at least a percentage of the poverty line (up to 125% for 30+ years). The bill also extends Social Security benefits for children of disabled or deceased workers who are full-time students up to age 22 (currently 19). To pay for these expansions, the bill applies the 12.4% Social Security payroll tax to earnings above ,000 (currently only applies up to about ,600), extends the same treatment to self-employment income above ,000, and raises the net investment income tax from 3.8% to 16.2% while expanding it to include active business income. Finally, it consolidates the separate OASI and DI trust funds into a single Social Security Trust Fund.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Enhances Social Security benefits through an across-the-board increase (first bend point from 90% to 95% plus 18% boost), switches COLA to CPI-E for elderly consumers, creates a new minimum benefit for lifetime low earners pegged to the poverty line, extends student benefits to age 22 for children of disabled/deceased workers, and funds these expansions by applying payroll taxes above ,000 and raising the net investment income tax from 3.8% to 16.2%. Consolidates the OASI and DI trust funds into a single Social Security Trust Fund.
Who Benefits
- Social Security beneficiaries (all current and future)
- Elderly consumers (CPI-E adjustment)
- Lifetime low-wage workers
Who Bears Costs
- High-income earners above ,000
- Self-employed individuals above ,000
- Investors and recipients of net investment income
Key Policy Areas
{'domain': 'Social Security', 'evidence': 'Amends Social Security Act Sections 215, 202, 201 for benefit formula increases, CPI-E COLA, minimum benefit, student benefit extension, and trust fund consolidation (Secs. 2-5, 9)'}, {'domain': 'Tax', 'evidence': 'Applies payroll tax to earnings above K (Sec. 6-7), raises net investment income tax from 3.8% to 16.2% and includes active business income (Sec. 8)'}
Primary Purpose
Enhances Social Security benefits through an across-the-board increase (first bend point from 90% to 95% plus 18% boost), switches COLA to CPI-E for elderly consumers, creates a new minimum benefit for lifetime low earners pegged to the poverty line, extends student benefits to age 22 for children of disabled/deceased workers, and funds these expansions by applying payroll taxes above ,000 and raising the net investment income tax from 3.8% to 16.2%. Consolidates the OASI and DI trust funds into a single Social Security Trust Fund.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Expand Social Security benefits for all beneficiaries while funding the expansion and ensuring long-term solvency by taxing high earners and investment income, effectively lifting the payroll tax cap and quadrupling the investment income tax rate"
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Sanders (for himself, Ms. Warren, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Welch, …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Lifetime low-wage workers with 10+ years of work, Social Security Trust Fund, Social Security beneficiaries
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Social Security Administration
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "Commissioner of Social Security"
- → Administers recomputation of primary insurance amounts
- "Bureau of Labor Statistics"
- → Publishes CPI-E
- "Commissioner of Social Security"
- → Recomputes primary insurance amounts
- "Commissioner of Social Security"
- → Determines full-time student status
- "Board of Trustees"
- → Continuous body from prior trust funds
- "Secretary of the Treasury"
- → Managing Trustee of combined fund
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Full-time attendance at elementary school (under 19), secondary school, or institution described in Sec. 102 of Higher Education Act
A year to which 4 quarters of coverage have been credited based on wages and self-employment income
Annual poverty guideline for 2025 as published by HHS for a single individual
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology