Summaries of Legislation of the 115th Congress with provisions affecting Social Security:

• On January 14, 2019, the President signed into law H.R. 4174, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018.  The law expands upon prior Open Government policy initiatives and public access to federal data assets by requiring federal agencies to develop evidence-based policy and evaluation plans, and to designate Evaluation Officers, Statistical Officials and Chief Data Officers to support and implement the new requirements. Became Public Law 115-435.

• On May 24, 2018, the President signed into law S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act.  The House passed the bill on May 22, 2018 without amendment, by a vote of 258-159, and it passed the Senate on March 14, 2018.  The law requires SSA to accept the electronic consent of an individual who consents to allow a financial institution to verify his or her name, date of birth, and Social Security number using SSA’s Consent Based Social Security Number Verification Service (CBSV). Previous Action 3/29/2018. Became Public Law 115-174.

• On September 15, 2017, the President signed into law H.R. 624, the Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017. The Senate passed the bill on September 6, 2017, by unanimous consent. Became Public Law 115-59.

• On April 13, 2018, the President signed into law H.R. 4547, The Strengthening Protections for Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2018 into law.  This bill, introduced on December 5, 2017 by Representative Sam Johnson.  The Senate passed the bill on March 23, 2018 without amendment by unanimous consent. The bill previously passed the House under suspension of the rules, as amended, and agreed by a vote of 396-0, on February 05, 2018. Previous Action 02/05/18. Became Public Law 115-165.

• On February 9, 2018, the President signed into law H.R. 1892, The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. This bill introduced on April 4, 2017 by Representative John Larson. The Senate voted to approve the amended bill by a vote of 71-28, and the House voted to approve the amended bill by a vote of 240-186 on February 9, 2018. Became Public Law 115-123.

• An amendment on May 24, 2017, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to H.R.624, the Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017 by voice vote.  The law, among other things, restricts the inclusion of Social Security Numbers (SSNs) on documents sent by mail by the federal Government. Previous Action 03/15/17; 02/14/17.  Became Public Law 115-59.

• On February 28, 2017, pursuant to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), the President signed into law H. J. Res. 40.  On February 15, 2017, the Senate passed the resolution by a vote of 57-43, without amendment.  The law provides for congressional disapproval of the Social Security Administration rule, Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007. Previous Action 02/02/17. Became Public Law 115-8.