Editing Supplemental Security Income (section)

==Recent legislative and regulatory proposals==
The Biden administration has proposed legislative changes<ref>Karen E. Smith, Richard W. Johnson, and Melissa M. Favreault. Urban Institute, 2020. "How Would Joe Biden Reform Social Security and Supplemental Security Income? https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/103028/how-would-joe-biden-reform-social-security-and-supplemental-security-income.pdf</ref> that would raise the maximum federal benefit under SSI to at least the poverty threshold for the United States (about $1,084 per month in 2020). Under current benefit amounts, about 3.3 million SSI recipients are poor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Characteristics of Noninstitutionalized DI and SSI Program Participants, 2013 Update |url=https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/rsnotes/rsn2015-02.html |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=Social Security Administration Research, Statistics, and Policy Analysis |language=en}}</ref> The administration has also proposed increasing the resource limits in SSI by changes in the price level in the United States. Under current resource limits, to qualify for SSI, individuals must have resources below $2,000 and married couples must have resources below $3,000. These limits have been fixed in dollar amounts since 1989. The administration's proposal would increase these to about $4,300 and $8,600 in 2021 (reflecting price growth since 1989 and setting the couple rate at twice that of an individual). Amounts would be automatically increased for future price growth. The Biden administration has further proposed to eliminate benefit reductions due to "in kind" support received by SSI recipients and to set the couple rate under SSI to twice that of the individual rate.

The Trump administration proposed legislative changes to disregard earnings of disabled students for purposes of calculating SSI benefits, which would allow students to increase earnings without a loss in SSI benefits.<ref>SSA. 2020. "Status of Open Government Accountability Office and Office of the Inspector General Recommendations." https://www.ssa.gov/budget/FY21Files/FY21-GAO-IG-ACT.pdf</ref> The Trump administration also proposed legislative changes to reduce total SSI benefits in cases where more than one person in the family qualified for SSI.<ref>Kathleen Romig and Guillermo Herrera. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2020. "Trump, House Republican Cuts to SSI Would Harm Children With Disabilities"</ref> These proposals were not acted upon by Congress.

A regulation implemented by the Trump administration removed the inability to speak English as an educational factor to be considered in SSI and Social Security disability determination. The regulation is projected to "result in a reduction of about 6,500 OASDI [Social Security] beneficiary awards per year and 4,000 SSI recipient awards per year on average over the period FY 2019-28, with a corresponding reduction of $4.6 billion in OASDI benefit payments and $0.8 billion in Federal SSI payments over the same period."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Federal Register :: Request Access |url=https://unblock.federalregister.gov/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=unblock.federalregister.gov}}</ref> The Trump administration argued communicating in English is no longer "a reliable indicator of an individual's educational attainment or the vocational impact of an individual's education." Disability advocates, however, questioned the validity of this argument and provided comments arguing against the regulation.<ref>Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities. 2019. http://www.c-c-d.org/fichiers/CCD-SSTF-Comments-SSA-2017-0046.pdf</ref>

The Trump administration proposed a regulation to conduct an additional 1.1 million full disability reviews over the 2020-2029 period of individuals receiving Social Security and SSI disability.<ref>Federal Register. 2019. "Rules Regarding the Frequency and Notice of Continuing Disability Reviews."https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/11/18/2019-24700/rules-regarding-the-frequency-and-notice-of-continuing-disability-reviews</ref> The regulation would have terminated Social Security and SSI benefits for a number of individuals and, based on a number of comments in the federal register, was controversial. Trump administration officials argued the rule would encourage labor force reentry among disabled persons. However, organizations expressed concern that many disabled individuals would not have representation when their cases were reviewed and would face onerous administrative challenges that would ultimately prevent them from continuing to receive benefits even though they were still disabled.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2020-12-23 |title=Social Security Rule Changes Will Harm Disabled Workers |url=https://nosscr.org/social-security-rule-changes-will-harm-disabled-workers/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=NOSSCR |language=en-US}}</ref> The proposed regulation was withdrawn by the Biden administration.

In addition, the Trump administration developed a proposal that would have made it more difficult for older workers to qualify for Social Security or SSI disability. The Social Security Act requires SSA to consider a person's education and age when making disability decisions. Officials in the Trump administration argued that older workers in the current economy no longer face the same difficulties as in the past with regard to meeting the occupational requirements of work and therefore tighter standards were necessary.<ref name="wsj.com">{{Cite news |last=Davidson |first=Kate |date=2020-01-10 |title=WSJ News Exclusive {{!}} Trump Administration Weighs Tighter Requirements for Disability Payments |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-administration-weighs-tighter-requirements-for-disability-payments-11578686424 |access-date=2023-07-14 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives strongly opposed the proposal, arguing the disability requirements were already strict and the regulation would prevent severely disabled individuals from receiving benefits.<ref>Ways and Means Committee. 2020. https://waysandmeans.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/neal-larson-and-davis-statement-trump-administration-s-latest-attack</ref>  Leaked documents to the press indicated that as many as 500,000 individuals would not receive Social Security or SSI if the regulation was implemented.<ref name="wsj.com"/> The Biden administration withdrew consideration of the regulation.

Recent legislative proposals in Congress have included proposed changes to child benefits, eligibility requirements, and benefit amounts.

The School Attendance Improves Lives (SAIL) Act in 2015 proposed reducing SSI benefits for children ages 16–17 if they were not attending school. The goal of the legislation was to increase school attendance among SSI recipients, although the legislation was criticized by some as being unnecessary.<ref>Rajan Sonik and Susan L. Parish. 2017."Older youth receiving Supplemental Security Income are no more likely than non-recipients to drop out of school." https://heller.brandeis.edu/lurie/pdfs/policy-briefs/older-youth-ssi.pdf</ref> The legislation was not enacted.

Some members of the House and Senate, including the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee [[Ron Wyden]], have requested the Biden administration include legislative proposals to increase SSI benefits to the poverty level and to adjust resource limits under SSI as part of the administration's "American Families Plan."<ref>Letter to President Biden. 2020. https://www.brown.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/ssi_letter_41921.pdf</ref>