Congress has reintroduced the Social Security 2100 Act, a bill that would increase benefits by 2% for some 71 million Americans—including 54 million retired workers and 9 million of their survivors and dependents.
The bill would temporarily change how Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are calculated from 2027 to 2036 in order to better match the real financial pressures seniors face. It would set the new minimum in line with the consumer price index for the elderly (CPI-E) benefit, which is 125% of the federal poverty line. In the last few years, older Americans have been hit with higher living expenses, particularly healthcare and housing costs.
If passed, the bill would increase the Social Security payroll tax and expand it to cover income over $400,000, which would “shore up its trust fund for another 32 years,” according to The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a nonpartisan advocacy group for older Americans.
The extension is necessary to rescue Social Security’s disappearing retirement trust fund, which is estimated to run out of money and become insolvent as early as the fourth quarter of 2032, in about six years, according to a recent report from the Social Security trustees.
Other projections, such as a new Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM) from the University of Pennsylvania, estimate the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund won’t be depleted until a few months later, in February 2033. Furthermore, Social Security’s combined fund—which includes the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program currently supporting 8 million Americans—won’t become insolvent until February 2035.
However, it is unclear if the Social Security 2100 Act will pass due to limited Republican support, according to finance analyst Michael Ryan.
“Its more realistic value may be as a negotiating marker,” Ryan told Newsweek. “Pieces of it . . . such as using a more senior-focused inflation measure, improving benefits for the oldest retirees, or applying payroll taxes to more high-income earnings . . . could eventually become part of a bipartisan Social Security package.”
GovTrack gives the 2026 bill, intended “to protect our Social Security system and improve benefits for current and future generations,” a 0% chance of passing. An earlier version was introduced back in 2017 during President Trump’s first term.