Sponsors (5)
The bill increases take-home pay and work incentives for retirees by eliminating post-retirement earnings penalties, but it raises Social Security costs and may create eligibility, financial, and administrative challenges for SSI recipients and program administrators.
Seniors and retired workers (including railroad retirees) can keep full Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits regardless of post-retirement earnings, increasing take-home income by removing work-related benefit deductions and encouraging older Americans to remain in the labor force.
Beneficiaries and administering agencies face simplified SSA/SSI rules and cross-references, likely reducing administrative complexity, paperwork, and confusion for beneficiaries and SSA/state staff over the long run.
Taxpayers and current/future beneficiaries will face higher Social Security outlays from eliminating the earnings test, increasing long-term program costs and adding pressure to program solvency and federal budgets.
Some SSI recipients and people with disabilities may experience changes in how income is counted that could reduce eligibility or payment amounts, creating financial hardship and uncertainty for low-income and disabled individuals.
Seniors, beneficiaries, and SSA staff may face short-term confusion, processing delays, and administrative burdens during the transition as statutes and systems are updated and recalculations are implemented.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Eliminates the Social Security retirement earnings test and parallel Railroad Retirement deductions and updates related statutory cross-references.
Introduced April 16, 2026 by Gregory Francis Murphy · Last progress April 16, 2026
Repeals the Social Security retirement earnings test so Social Security beneficiaries who continue working will no longer have benefits withheld for earning above the current exempt amounts; it also removes comparable deduction rules in the Railroad Retirement Act and makes conforming edits across the Social Security Act and related statutes to update cross-references. The changes apply beginning for taxable years ending after December 31, 2026, and require administrative updates to benefit calculations and references in federal law.