PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Stevens, Haley M. [D-MI-11] · D–MI
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 30, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-09-24 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Blue Collar Social Security Fairness Act would let qualifying workers in physically demanding jobs receive Social Security retirement benefits starting at age 60 instead of 62, while retaining the existing insurance requirement. Eligibility would depend on points earned through qualifying work, with older workers earning more adjusted points. The bill also proposes an exception to the provision it identifies as the early-retirement reduction and a special earnings-test allowance. These are proposed changes, not evidence of enacted law.
This Act may be cited as the Blue Collar Social Security Fairness Act.
is amended by inserting after 62 the following: (or, in the case of such a fully insured individual who is a covered worker (as defined in section 216(m)), has attained age 60).
(c) Inapplicability of early retirement reduction
(E) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection (except for subparagraph (D)), the exempt amount which is applicable to an individual who is a covered worker (as defined in section 216(m)) shall be for each month of any taxable year ending after 2026 and before 2028, $833.331/3.
Not less than 18 and not more than age 34 0.5 Not less than age 35 and not more than age 44 1 Not less than age 45 and not more than age 54 1.5 Not less than age 55 2
The proposed age-60 eligibility rule would apply only to workers who meet both the existing “fully insured” requirement and the bill's new definition of a covered worker. The supplied text does not reproduce the existing insurance requirement.
(or, in the case of such a fully insured individual who is a covered worker (as defined in section 216(m)), has attained age 60)
A worker would qualify through either of two routes: at least 20 base points or at least 15 adjusted points. The bill does not require meeting both thresholds.
The term covered worker means an individual who has earned— (A) 20 or more base points earned as described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2); or (B) 15 or more adjusted points as described in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2).
To earn points for a calendar year, a worker would have to work in a physically demanding job for at least eight months that year. Each qualifying year would earn one base point.
(A) An individual shall be eligible to earn points under subparagraph (B) and (C) for a calendar year if the individual works at a physically demanding job not less than 8 months in such calendar year. (B) An eligible individual shall earn 1 base point for each calendar year under this subparagraph.
Adjusted points would depend on the worker's age on December 31 of the qualifying year: 0.5 points at ages 18–34, one point at ages 35–44, 1.5 points at ages 45–54, and two points at age 55 or older.
(C) The number of points earned as described under this subparagraph shall be determined as follows: If, on December 31 of a calendar year, The number of points the eligible individual is: earned is: Not less than 18 and not more than age 34 0.5 Not less than age 35 and not more than age 44 1 Not less than age 45 and not more than age 54 1.5 Not less than age 55 2
The Social Security Commissioner would have to publish a list of qualifying occupations within one year after enactment, consulting the Labor and Health and Human Services secretaries. The Commissioner would have to update the list every three years afterward.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Blue Collar Social Security Fairness Act, the Commissioner of Social Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall publish, and update every 3 years thereafter, a list of occupations that are physically demanding jobs for the purposes of this subsection.
The list would identify both qualifying occupations and the calendar years for which they qualify. Once the Commissioner publishes a determination that an occupation qualifies for a particular year, the Commissioner could not reverse that determination.
Such list shall include each occupation that the Commissioner determines qualify as a physically demanding job, and the calendar years with respect to which such occupation qualifies as a physically demanding job. The Commissioner may not overturn or reverse any determination that an occupation qualifies as a physically demanding job with respect to a calendar year after publishing such determination.
An occupation would qualify if its employment conditions impose substantial physical demands reasonably expected to reduce a person's ability, at an advanced age, to perform that occupation or other physically demanding occupations. This is a proposed eligibility standard, not a finding that particular jobs have those effects.
an occupation shall be determined to qualify as a physically demanding job if the occupation, as a condition of employment, imposes on an individual substantial physical demands that may be reasonably expected to diminish the ability of the individual to perform such occupation, or other occupations imposing substantial physical demands, at an advanced age.
Under the heading “Inapplicability of early retirement reduction,” the bill would exempt covered workers' retirement benefits from Social Security Act section 202(w). The existing subsection is not reproduced, so the supplied text does not establish the complete benefit calculation.
(c) Inapplicability of early retirement reduction Section 202(w) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(w)) is amended
(12) This subsection shall not apply with respect to the old-age benefit of an individual who is a covered worker (as defined in section 216(m)).
The bill would set a special monthly exempt amount—the earnings allowance used in the retirement earnings test—for covered workers in taxable years ending after 2026 and before 2028. The supplied text prints the amount as “$833.331/3.” The rule expressly preserves an exception in existing subparagraph (D), whose contents are not supplied.
(d) Retirement earnings test Section 203(f)(8) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 403(f)(8)) is amended
(E) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection (except for subparagraph (D)), the exempt amount which is applicable to an individual who is a covered worker (as defined in section 216(m)) shall be for each month of any taxable year ending after 2026 and before 2028, $833.331/3.
The earnings-test amendments would also insert a 2025 reference into an existing calculation provision for people described by specified statutory cross-references. Because the underlying provisions are not reproduced, the supplied text does not establish the full calculation or who falls within those references.
in clause (ii), by inserting before or 1992 the following: , 2025 (with respect to individuals who are not described in subparagraph (D) and are described in subparagraph (F)),
by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (F)
The proposed amendments would apply to benefits paid for months after 2026. This benefit start date is separate from the deadline to publish the occupation list, which runs from enactment.
(e) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to benefits paid for any month after 2026.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Blue Collar Social Security Fairness Act
The supplied September 30, 2026 source snapshot records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Ways and Means on September 24, 2026. It does not establish what happened afterward.
Source snapshot updated 2026-09-30T16:16:38Z. 2026-09-24: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. 2026-09-24: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-09-24. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal earmark status cannot be established for absent accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow benefit distinct from the main policy's intended worker population was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Coverage of that population does not by itself warrant a targeted-benefit finding. This conclusion is limited to the supplied version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 30, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI