PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.

21st Century Retirement Act

Committee on Finance. Hearings held.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jul 15, 1998

21st Century Retirement Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to add a new part B (Individual Security Accounts). Requires the Commissioner of Social Security to establish an individual security account (ISA) for each individual who is employed or self-employed. Requires each employed or self-employed individual (or, if need be, the Commissioner) to designate the investment type of ISA to which the Secretary of the Treasury shall credit, for such individual, the contribution amount deducted from the individual's income. Requires investment of an ISA in a manner similar to that under the Thrift Savings Plan for Federal employees. Prescribes rules for the transfer and distribution of account funds, including providing for the off-budget treatment of ISAs. (Sec. 2) Establishes in the Treasury an Individual Security Fund composed of all established ISAs, and managed by an Individual Security Fund Board. Directs the Board to study and report to the President and the Congress on ways to increase an individual's ISA investment options, especially with respect to rollovers or distributions from such account. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax rates on the income and self-employment income of every individual, as well as to impose an ISA contribution on such income, computed according to a specified formula, and adjusted for inflation. (Sec. 3) Amends SSA title II to: (1) establish a new minimum monthly social security benefit for certain low-income individuals who become eligible for Old-Age or Disability Insurance benefits after December 31, 2005; and (2) eliminate the limitation on the amount of outside income (earnings test) which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits. (Sec. 5) Amends the Social Security Amendments of 1983, as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, to provide for a phased reduction to zero, beginning after 2009, of the subtrahend in the formula for certain transfers to the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund under the Medicare program of SSA title XVIII. (Sec. 6) Amends SSA title II to provide for: (1) OASDI coverage of newly hired State and local employees; (2) a gradual increase in the number of benefit computation years and, for calendar years after 2009, the use of all computation base years in the computation of primary insurance amounts; and (3) a graduated increase in the early and delayed retirement credits. (Sec. 9) Directs the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to publish annually in the Federal Register an estimate of: (1) the number of percentage points by which the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is reduced below the level it would otherwise have attained by reason of the adjustments in the determination of such index instituted by the Bureau after December 31, 1997; and (2) the upper level substitution bias retained in the CPI. Makes appropriations to BLS for: (1) research, evaluation, and implementation of a superlative index to estimate upper level substitution bias in the CPI; (2) expansion of the Consumer Expenditure Survey and the Point of Purchase Survey; and (3) implementation of revisions to the CPI with respect to programs under SSA title II. Directs BLS to establish an administrative advisory committee to advise it periodically about CPI revisions, and to conduct research and experimentation with alternative data collection and estimating approaches. Amends SSA title II to provide for use of a reduced CPI in the indexing of cost-of-living benefits. (Sec. 10) Amends SSA title II to: (1) provide for a phased-in reduction in spousal benefits other than survivor's benefits to 33 percent of primary insurance amount; (2) make various specified adjustments to the bend points in the formula for determining the primary insurance amount; and (3) provide for a phased-in increase in social security normal and early retirement ages, up to a normal retirement age of 70 in the year 2037 for individuals attaining early retirement age (62) in the year 2029. Requires specified incremental increases in both normal and early retirement ages after 2029. (Sec. 13) Amends SSA title VII (Administration) to establish a new mechanism for ensuring solvency in the social security trust funds. Directs the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, if it determines that the balance ratio of either Trust Fund for any calendar year during the succeeding 75 years will be zero, to recommend to the Congress and the President statutory adjustments affecting Trust Fund receipts and disbursements necessary to maintain its balance ratio at not less than 20 percent, with due regard to the economic conditions which created such inadequacy in the balance ratio, and the amount of time necessary to alleviate it in a prudent manner. Requires such report to specify the extent to which benefits would have to be reduced, taxes would have to be increased, or a combination thereof, in order to obtain the desired objectives. Directs the same Board to recommend to the Congress and the President statutory adjustments to the disability insurance program to modify the changes in disability benefits made under this Act without reducing the balance ratio of the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Prescribes a procedure for presidential review, disapproval, and approval of Board recommendations.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
PlainBill analysis is coming later. This page presents official source data. We have not yet published a PlainBill explanation for this bill.

Who introduced it

Sen. Gregg, Judd [R-NH] · R–NH

Committees

  • Finance Committee
5 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.

  1. Committee on Finance. Hearings held.

  2. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

  3. Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S8244-8247)

  4. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.

Source last updated: Aug 21, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

Explore the bill from different angles

Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.

Neutral evidence review

Objective

Analyze S.2313 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact

Progressive lens

Examine S.2313 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope

Conservative lens

Examine S.2313 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power

Liberty lens

Examine S.2313 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

View full prompt & sources