Blind Empowerment Act of 2003

Blind Empowerment Act of 2003 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to increase, by specified increments over five years, the level of earnings demonstrating the ability of a blind person to engage in substantial gainful activity for purposes of determining disability insurance benefit payments.

[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 750 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 750

 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to increase the level of 
 earnings under which no individual who is blind is determined to have 
 demonstrated an ability to engage in substantial gainful activity for 
                  purposes of determining disability.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 1, 2003

 Mr. McCain (for himself, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Allen, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Warner, 
 Mr. Akaka, Mr. Bennett, Mrs. Lincoln, Ms. Collins, Mr. Hollings, Mr. 
Chafee, Mr. Fitzgerald, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Campbell, Mr. 
Hagel, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Smith, and Ms. Snowe) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                               on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title II of the Social Security Act to increase the level of 
 earnings under which no individual who is blind is determined to have 
 demonstrated an ability to engage in substantial gainful activity for 
                  purposes of determining disability.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    The Act may be cited as the ``Blind Empowerment Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. INCREASE IN AMOUNT DEMONSTRATING SUBSTANTIAL GAINFUL ACTIVITY 
              IN THE CASE OF BLIND INDIVIDUALS.

    Section 223(d)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423(d)(4)) 
is amended--
            (1) by striking the second sentence of subparagraph (A); 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
    ``(C)(i) No individual who is blind shall be regarded as having 
demonstrated an ability to engage in substantial gainful activity on 
the basis of monthly earnings in any taxable year that do not exceed an 
amount equal to--
            ``(I) in the case of earnings in the taxable year beginning 
        after December 31, 2002, and before January 1, 2004, $1,330 per 
        month;
            ``(II) in the case of earnings in the taxable year 
        beginning after December 31, 2003, and before January 1, 2005, 
        $1,720 per month;
            ``(III) in the case of earnings in the taxable year 
        beginning after December 31, 2004, and before January 1, 2006, 
        $2,110 per month;
            ``(IV) in the case of earnings in the taxable year 
        beginning after December 31, 2005, and before January 1, 2007, 
        $2,500 per month; and
            ``(V) in the case of earnings in taxable years beginning 
        after December 31, 2006, the dollar amount determined for 
        purposes of this clause under clause (ii).
    ``(ii) The Commissioner of Social Security shall, on or before 
November 1 of 2006 and of every year thereafter, determine and publish 
in the Federal Register the monthly dollar amount for purposes of 
clause (i) in the case of taxable years beginning with or during the 
succeeding calendar year. Such dollar amount shall be the larger of--
            ``(I) the monthly dollar amount in effect under clause (i) 
        for taxable years beginning with or during the calendar year in 
        which the determination under this clause is made, or
            ``(II) the product of $2,500 and the ratio of the national 
        average wage index (as defined in section 209(k)(1)) for the 
        calendar year before the year in which the determination under 
        this clause is made to the national average wage index (as so 
        defined) for 2004,
with such product, if not a multiple of $10, being rounded to the next 
higher multiple of $10 where such amount is a multiple of $5 but not of 
$10 and to the nearest multiple of $10 in any other case.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to taxable 
years beginning after December 31, 2002.
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