H.R. 1700: Social Security Expansion Act
Sponsor
Val Hoyle
Democrat · OR-4
Bill Progress
Latest Action · Feb 27, 2025
Assigned to Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. for review
Bigger Social Security checks, paid for above $250,000
Why it matters
This bill makes Social Security checks bigger starting in 2026 — a richer benefit formula, a minimum benefit pegged to the poverty line for people who worked low-wage jobs for decades, and annual raises tied to a price index built around what older Americans actually spend. The cost falls on high earners. Social Security tax, which currently stops at $176,100 of wages (the 2025 cap, per the bill's accompanying summary), would resume on wages above $250,000, and the tax on investment income would more than quadruple, from 3.8% to 16.2%. All 36 cosponsors are Democrats, and the bill has sat in committee since February 2025.
H.R. 1700, the Social Security Expansion Act, does two things at once: it raises benefits and it raises taxes to pay for them. Sponsors say the combination also extends the program's long-term solvency; that claim is the bill's, and proving it would depend on official cost estimates Congress has not yet produced.
On the benefit side, the formula that converts your lifetime earnings into a monthly check gets more generous starting in 2026, and the change is recomputed for people already collecting — not just new retirees. Workers who put in more than 10 years but earned little their whole careers get a new minimum benefit tied to the federal poverty line. Children of disabled or deceased workers who are full-time students keep their benefits until age 22 instead of losing them at 19. And the yearly cost-of-living raise would be measured with CPI-E, a price index that weights medical care and other costs the way older households actually feel them.
The financing is aimed at the top. Right now Social Security tax stops at a wage cap — $176,100 in 2025, according to the bill's summary. This bill leaves that cap in place but restarts the tax on wages above $250,000, so very high earners pay into the system again. Self-employment income works the same way. Separately, the tax on investment income more than quadruples, from 3.8% to 16.2%, and for the first time it would reach income from actively running a business.
Finally, the bill merges the two Social Security trust funds — one for retirement and survivors, one for disability — into a single fund, so money is no longer split between them.
H.R. 1700 Bill Summary
What H.R. 1700 actually does.
Benefit checks go up starting in 2026
The formula that turns a lifetime of earnings into a monthly benefit gets two upward adjustments: the top replacement factor rises from 90% to 95%, and a second component is increased by 18% for anyone becoming eligible after 2025. Social Security must recompute amounts for people already receiving benefits, so current retirees and disabled workers see the increase too, not only new claimants.
Cost-of-living raises switch to a seniors' price index
Annual increases would be calculated using CPI-E, the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers, instead of the index used now. The Bureau of Labor Statistics would publish CPI-E monthly starting the July after enactment, and the new method applies to adjustments beginning roughly two years out.
A minimum benefit pegged to the poverty line
People who become eligible after 2025 with more than 10 years of work — a year of work meaning four quarters of credited coverage — get a benefit no lower than an amount tied to the federal poverty guideline for a single person, rising with average wages over time. For 2026 the benchmark is the 2025 poverty guideline.
Student survivor benefits last until age 22
Children of disabled or deceased workers who are full-time students can keep their Social Security (and Railroad Retirement) benefits until age 22 instead of losing them at 19, starting January 2026. Students paid by an employer to attend school, and those incarcerated for a felony, are excluded.
Social Security tax returns on wages over $250,000
Today the tax applies only up to an annual wage cap. The bill keeps that cap but reapplies the tax to wages above $250,000, with self-employment income treated the same way. The change starts the first January after enactment.
Investment income tax rises to 16.2%
The tax on net investment income more than quadruples, from 3.8% to 16.2%, and is expanded to cover income from actively running a business, which it does not reach today. It takes effect for tax years beginning after enactment, and most of that revenue is routed to Social Security.
Two trust funds become one
The separate retirement-and-survivors and disability trust funds are merged into a single Social Security Trust Fund, fed by all payroll and self-employment taxes and 62% of the investment income tax.
Who benefits from H.R. 1700?
Current retirees and disabled workers
Because the bill requires recomputation, the higher benefit formula reaches people already on Social Security, not just future claimants. A retiree who started benefits years ago would have their monthly amount recalculated upward starting in 2026.
Lifetime low earners with long work histories
Someone who worked more than a decade but earned little their whole career would get a minimum benefit tied to the poverty line for a single person — a floor designed so a full career of low-wage work doesn't end in sub-poverty benefits.
Student children of disabled or deceased workers
A 19-year-old who loses survivor benefits the month they age out today could instead keep them until age 22, covering the college years when families often struggle most to pay for school.
Older beneficiaries hit hardest by inflation
Tying raises to CPI-E, which weights health care and other costs older households spend more on, generally produces larger annual increases over time than the index used now.
Who is affected by H.R. 1700?
Wage earners making over $250,000
The full Social Security tax — split between worker and employer — would apply again to wages above $250,000, on top of the existing tax up to the cap.
High-income self-employed people
Self-employment earnings above $250,000 would owe the Social Security portion of self-employment tax, which the self-employed pay entirely themselves.
Investors and active business owners
The investment income tax rises from 3.8% to 16.2%, and for the first time would reach income from actively operating a business, not just passive investment returns.
Students excluded from the extension
The age-22 extension does not cover students paid by an employer to attend school, or those confined for a felony conviction; they still lose eligibility under the old age-19 rule.
What Congress Is Saying
H.R. 1700 hasn't been debated on the floor yet.
This section updates when a legislator speaks about it on the floor or in committee.
HR1700 Legislative Journey
House: Committee Action
Feb 27, 2025
Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
About the Sponsor
Val Hoyle
Democrat, Oregon's 4th congressional district · 3 years in Congress
Committees: Natural Resources, Transportation and Infrastructure
View full profile →
Cosponsors (36)
All 36 cosponsors are Democrats. Cosponsors represent 20 states: Arizona, California, District of Columbia, and 17 more.
Janice Schakowsky
Democrat · IL
Troy Carter
Democrat · LA
Greg Casar
Democrat · TX
Judy Chu
Democrat · CA
Steve Cohen
Democrat · TN
Christopher Deluzio
Democrat · PA
Lois Frankel
Democrat · FL
Pramila Jayapal
Democrat · WA
Ro Khanna
Democrat · CA
James McGovern
Democrat · MA
Gwen Moore
Democrat · WI
Jerrold Nadler
Democrat · NY
Committee Sponsors
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
6 of 66 committee members cosponsored
Education and Workforce Committee
5 of 36 committee members cosponsored
Ways and Means Committee
2 of 45 committee members cosponsored
51 Democrats across these committees haven't cosponsored yet. Mobilize their constituents
What laws does H.R. 1700 change?
14 changes
Sections Amended
Section 215(i) of Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i))
adding at the end the following: ``(6) Any provision of law (other than in this title, title VIII, or title XVI) which provides for adjustment of an amount based on a change in benefit amounts resulting from a determination made under this subsection shall be applied and administered without regard to the amendments made by section 3 of the Social Security Expansion Act, and, for purposes of making such an adjustment under such a provision, this subsection as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of such Act shall continue to apply
Section 3121(a) of Internal Revenue Code of 1986
read as follows: ``(1) in the case of taxes imposed by sections 3101(a) and 3111(a), for any calendar year in which the contribution and benefit base (as determined under section 230 of the Social Security Act) is less than $250,000, so much of the remuneration (other than remuneration referred to in the succeeding paragraphs of this subsection) with respect to employment that has been paid to an individual by an employer during the calendar year as exceeds such contribution and benefit base but does not exceed $250,000;''
Section 3121 of Internal Revenue Code of 1986
adding at the end the following new subsection: ``(aa) Special Rules for Successor Employers
Section 1402(b) of Internal Revenue Code of 1986
read as follows: ``(1) in the case of the tax imposed by section 1401(a) for any taxable year beginning in a calendar year in which the contribution and benefit base (as determined under section 230 of the Social Security Act) is less than $250,000, the excess (if any) of-- ``(A) so much of the net earnings from self- employment which is in excess of-- ``(i) an amount equal to the contribution and benefit base (as determined under section 230 of the Social Security Act) which is effective for the calendar year in which such taxable year begins, minus ``(ii) the amount of the wages paid to such individual during such taxable years, over ``(B) the sum of-- ``(i) the excess (if any) of-- ``(I) the net earning from self- employment reduced by the excess (if any) of subparagraph (A)(i) over subparagraph (A)(ii), over ``(II) $250,000, reduced by such contribution and benefit base, plus ``(ii) the amount of the wages paid to such individual during such taxable year in excess of such contribution and benefit base and not in excess of $250,000; or''
Section 1411 of Internal Revenue Code of 1986
striking ``3
Section 1411(c) of such Code
striking paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) and by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively
H.R. 1700 Quick Facts
- Committee
- Transportation and Infrastructure
- Chamber
- House
- Policy
- Social Welfare
- Introduced
- Feb 27, 2025
Assigned to Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. for review
Feb 27, 2025
Official Sources
Official Congress.gov page for the Social Security Expansion Act — full bill text, all 36 cosponsors, committee referrals, and status.
SSA's retirement benefits hub — background on the benefit formula the bill makes more generous starting in 2026 (Sec. 2).
SSA's disability benefits page; the bill's recomputed, richer formula also raises checks for disability-insurance beneficiaries (Sec. 2).
SSA's survivors benefits page — the bill lets full-time-student children of deceased or disabled workers keep benefits until age 22 (Sec. 5).
SSA Office of the Chief Actuary's wage-base table — the cap the bill leaves in place while reapplying Social Security tax on wages above $250,000 (Secs. 6-7).
The BLS index the bill would use to calculate annual cost-of-living adjustments instead of the index used today (Sec. 3).
The HHS/ASPE federal poverty guidelines that set the new minimum benefit for lifetime low earners with more than 10 years of work (Sec. 4).
IRS guidance on the section 1411 net investment income tax the bill more than quadruples, from 3.8% to 16.2%, and broadens to active business income (Sec. 8).
H.R. 1700 Common Questions
Will my Social Security check go up under H.R. 1700?
Yes, starting in 2026. The bill makes the benefit formula more generous and requires Social Security to recompute amounts for people already collecting — so current retirees and disabled workers, not just new claimants, would see a higher monthly check.
Who pays for the Social Security increase in H.R. 1700?
High earners. Social Security tax, which today stops at a wage cap ($176,100 in 2025), would resume on wages above $250,000. Separately, the tax on investment income would more than quadruple, from 3.8% to 16.2%.
Does H.R. 1700 tax all income above the current Social Security cap?
No. There's a gap. The tax still stops at the regular wage cap, skips income between that cap and $250,000, then restarts on wages above $250,000. Earners between roughly $176,100 and $250,000 wouldn't pay more.
What is CPI-E and how would it change my Social Security COLA?
CPI-E is a price index the government tracks for households headed by someone 62 or older; it weights costs like health care that seniors spend more on. H.R. 1700 would base annual Social Security raises on it, which generally yields larger increases over time.
Does H.R. 1700 raise the Social Security minimum benefit?
Yes. People who become eligible after 2025 with more than 10 years of work get a minimum benefit tied to the federal poverty line for a single person — a floor so a long career of low-wage work doesn't end in sub-poverty benefits.
Can student children keep Social Security benefits until 22 under H.R. 1700?
Yes. Children of disabled or deceased workers who are full-time students would keep benefits until age 22 instead of 19, starting January 2026. Students paid by an employer to attend school, or those incarcerated for a felony, are excluded.
How much would the investment income tax rise under H.R. 1700?
From 3.8% to 16.2% — more than four times the current rate — for tax years beginning after enactment. It would also newly apply to income from actively running a business, not just passive investment returns.
What is the status of H.R. 1700 and can it pass?
It was introduced in February 2025 and referred to the Ways and Means Committee, where it has sat with no action. All 36 cosponsors are Democrats, so it has no clear path through the current House and functions mainly as the Democratic blueprint for expanding Social Security.
Based on H.R. 1700 bill text
H.R. 1700 Bill Text
“To enhance Social Security benefits and ensure the long-term solvency of the Social Security program.”
Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office
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