Social Security payments would increase, annual cost-of-living adjustments could be larger and fewer retirees would pay federal taxes on their benefits under a reintroduced proposal from two Connecticut lawmakers.
The Social Security 2100 Act would also provide additional help to some widows and widowers, low-income retirees and people who have received benefits for more than 15 years. It would pay for those changes largely by collecting more Social Security taxes from high earners.
But the proposal does not change anyone’s benefits now.
U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., introduced the House version in June, while U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced a companion bill in July. Both remain in committee and would have to pass Congress and be signed by the president before taking effect.
According to the federal Social Security Administration, there are 765,437 Social Security beneficiaries in Connecticut as of December 2025, including 644,382 people age 65 or older.
It remains to be seen how likely it is this bill would pass given that Democrats are outnumbered in Congress. The proposal was also reintroduced as Larson is in a four-way primary for the Democratic nomination for his seat.
Here’s what the proposal would mean for seniors:
Would Social Security checks increase?
Under the bill as proposed, yes, Social Security benefits would increase. The bill would change the formula used to calculate Social Security benefits, producing an increase of roughly 2% for current and future recipients.
The exact amount would depend on each recipient’s benefit. A 2% increase would add about $40 a month to a $2,000 payment.
The increase would apply in 2027 and remain in effect through 2036.
How the annual cost-of-living adjustment would change
Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment, commonly called the COLA, is now based on an inflation measure that tracks spending by urban workers.
The bill would require the government to also calculate inflation using a specific index designed around the spending habits of people 62 and older. Social Security would use whichever calculation produced the larger increase.
The change could result in higher COLAs during years when expenses that fall heavily on seniors, including health care and housing, rise faster than other prices.
It would not guarantee a larger increase every year. The adjustment would still depend on inflation. The new formula would apply from 2027 through 2036.
Lower-income retirees could receive more
The proposal would create a higher minimum benefit for people who spent much of their working lives in low-wage jobs.
Someone with at least 30 years of covered work could receive a minimum benefit equal to 125% of the federal poverty guideline. Smaller increases would apply to people with between 11 and 29 qualifying years.
The provision would primarily affect people who become eligible for Social Security after 2026, rather than everyone already receiving retirement benefits.
What would change for widows and widowers?
When one spouse dies, a household generally loses one of its two Social Security checks. The surviving spouse can typically keep the larger benefit, but not both.
The bill would create an alternative calculation for some surviving spouses. A widow or widower could receive a benefit based on 75% of the couple’s combined benefits, subject to a limit.
The change would most likely help middle-income couples in which both spouses worked and earned their own Social Security benefits. It would apply from 2027 through 2036.
Older recipients could receive an additional increase
Under the bill proposal, people who have been eligible for Social Security for more than 15 years could receive another increase.
The increase would be phased in over five years, beginning in the 16th year of eligibility. By the 20th year, recipients would receive the full increase, which would be calculated using 5% of a benchmark Social Security benefit.
That does not mean every recipient would receive exactly 5% more than their current payment. The dollar amount would be based on the benchmark established in the bill rather than the size of each person’s check.
The provision is intended to help people who have been retired for many years and may have exhausted much of their savings.
Would fewer seniors pay taxes on Social Security?
Some Social Security recipients must pay federal income taxes on part of their benefits.
The tax is based on what the federal government calls “combined income,” which includes adjusted gross income, tax-exempt interest and half of a person’s Social Security benefits.
Under current law, benefits can begin to become taxable when combined income exceeds $25,000 for an individual or $32,000 for a married couple filing jointly.
The bill would raise those thresholds to $35,000 for individuals and $50,000 for couples. That could reduce or eliminate the tax for some middle-income retirees, depending on their other income. The higher thresholds would apply from 2027 through 2036.
Could a larger check cause someone to lose Medicaid or SSI?
The bill attempts to prevent that. Programs such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid have strict income limits. Ordinarily, even a small increase in Social Security can affect whether someone qualifies.
Under the proposal, benefit increases created by the bill would not be counted when determining eligibility for SSI, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. That protection could be particularly important for low-income seniors who receive both Social Security and SSI or rely on Medicaid for health care or long-term care.
Those provisions would not increase monthly benefits, but could affect seniors who need help applying for benefits, correcting mistakes or resolving complicated cases in person.
How would the increases be paid for?
Workers and employers each pay a 6.2% Social Security payroll tax, but only on wages up to an annual limit. Earnings above that limit are not currently subject to the tax.
The bill would eliminate that cap after 2026, meaning the payroll tax would apply to all wages. High earners would receive some additional credit toward their future benefits, but at a much lower rate than other earnings.
The proposal would also apply an additional Social Security tax to net investment income for taxpayers making more than $400,000.
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This article originally published at Could your Social Security benefits increase? What a new proposal would do.
