Social Security gets a revenue boost and benefit tweak for the elderly
S. 2614 — Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act · Filed by Mazie Hirono (D-HI) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 31, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill makes three changes to Social Security: (1) it creates a new Consumer Price Index tailored to elderly consumers (CPI-E) to calculate cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) instead of the current general index, potentially raising benefits for retirees; (2) it gradually phases in taxation of earnings above the current payroll-tax cap (the 'contribution and benefit base') starting in 2026, reaching full taxation by 2032, which would increase revenue from higher earners; and (3) it includes surplus earnings above the cap in the benefit formula at reduced rates (3% and 0.25%), so higher earners receive modestly higher benefits tied to their above-cap income. Together, these provisions aim to shore up Social Security's finances while improving benefits for elderly beneficiaries.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a revenue-raising measure (taxation of above-cap earnings) paired with benefit improvements (CPI-E indexing and surplus-earnings inclusion). It is fundamentally a fiscal restructuring of Social Security, not a deregulation, subsidy, or commemorative act.
What the text implies
- The CPI-E index may diverge significantly from the general CPI, potentially raising COLA rates for all beneficiaries over time if elderly consumption patterns differ materially from the general population.
- The phased taxation of above-cap earnings (86% in 2026, declining to 0% by 2032) creates a multi-year transition; employers and high earners face rising payroll-tax burdens during this period, which may affect wage-setting and hiring decisions.
- The surplus-earnings benefit formula (3% and 0.25% rates) is substantially lower than the basic formula (90%, 32%, 15%), meaning high earners receive a much smaller return on their above-cap tax contributions than lower earners do on their capped earnings.
- Section 102(d) explicitly shields SSI and Medicaid eligibility from the COLA increases, preventing benefit clawback but also limiting the real-world gain for low-income elderly who rely on means-tested programs.
- The bill does not address the long-term solvency of the Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund, focusing primarily on Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) revenue and benefits.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Elderly beneficiaries and lower-income workers benefit from higher COLAs and improved program solvency. However, higher earners and employers face increased payroll taxes on above-cap earnings, and the benefit formula change only partially offsets that tax increase, creating a net cost for high earners. The bill trades higher taxes on upper-income workers for broader Social Security sustainability and modest benefit improvements for all retirees.
Who stands to gain
- elderly Social Security beneficiaries (via higher COLAs)
- lower-income workers (via improved program solvency and modest benefit gains)
- Social Security trust funds (via increased payroll-tax revenue from above-cap earnings)
Named in the bill
Social Security Administration, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, higher-income workers and self-employed individuals, employers (subject to increased payroll taxes)
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Democrats.
- Jul 31, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jul 31, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
3 lobbying clients named this bill on 5 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $220,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 24 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.
Mazie Hirono, the sponsor, reported $44,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Alliance for Retired Americans — $175,000 on 2 filings
- Social Security Works — $40,000 on 2 filings
- Trea Senior Citizens League — $5,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (14,436 characters) on Sep 5, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 17, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-21.
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