2021 OASDI Trustees Report

B. SOCIAL SECURITY AMENDMENTS SINCE THE 2020 REPORT

Since the Trustees submitted the 2020 report to Congress, there has been one change in policy that is estimated to have a significant financial effect on the OASDI program.

The estimates presented in last year’s report reflected the assumption that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy would be phased out, consistent with the Department of Homeland Security’s September 5, 2017 rescission of the 2012 DACA policy directive. This year’s report incorporates the effects of two developments during 2020 and early 2021. First, pursuant to a United States District Court order, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services resumed accepting first-time applications and renewal requests for participation in the DACA program, effective December 7, 2020. Second, on January 20, 2021, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to take appropriate action, in consultation with the Attorney General, to preserve and fortify DACA consistent with applicable law. This policy change to resume and maintain the DACA program is estimated to have a small but significant positive financial effect on the OASDI program over the short-range projection period and a small but significant negative financial effect over the long-range projection period. Sections IV.A.4 and IV.B.6 of this report provide further description of the magnitude of effects on the financial status of the OASDI program.

This report also incorporates the effect of two changes in law that are estimated to have negligible financial effects over the short-range and long-range projection periods:

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The ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019, Public Law 116-250, was enacted on December 22, 2020. This law eliminates the five-month waiting period for disability insurance benefits for individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Public Law 117-3 was enacted on March 23, 2021 to make a technical correction to the eligibility criteria specified in Public Law 116-250.

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The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Public Law 117-2, was enacted on March 11, 2021. Section 9674 of the bill requires third party platforms (such as eBay) to provide Forms 1099 to merchants who have at least $600 in transactions for the provision of goods or services. This section is expected to have a small effect on the reporting of self-employment income that might otherwise have been unreported.

Finally, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing recession, several laws, presidential actions, and other guidance during calendar year 2020 authorized the reduction or deferral of employer and employee payroll tax under certain limited circumstances. In all such cases, there was no reduction or delay in the payroll tax revenue received by the OASI and DI Trust Funds.