Social Security Legislative Bulletin

No: 108-9
Date: May 19, 2003

Senate Passes H.R. 2, the "Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003"

On May 15, 2003, the Senate amended and passed H.R. 2, the "Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003," by a vote of 51 to 49. On May 9, 2003, the Senate Finance Committee had reported tax relief provisions in S. 2. Those provisions were reintroduced as S. 1054 on May 13, 2003. In considering the House-passed version of H.R. 2, the Senate deleted the language of the House bill and inserted instead the text of S. 1054, to which it then made additional amendments.

As passed by the Senate, H.R. 2 includes the following provisions that would affect SSA-administered programs.

Repeal of 1993 Income Tax Increase on Social Security Benefits

• By a vote of 98 to 2, the Senate approved an amendment expressing the sense of the Senate that the 1993 income tax increase on Social Security benefits should be repealed.

Require Pre-effectuation Review (PER) of SSI Disability and Blindness Allowances for Individuals Aged 18 and Over

• PER would be required for 25 percent of cases in FY 2004, and 50 percent of cases for FY 2005, and thereafter. A similar provision was passed by the House on February 13, 2003 in H.R. 4 (see Legislative Bulletin 108-1) and the Senate on April 9, 2003 in S. 476 (see Legislative Bulletin 108-7).