Proposed legislations

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The Administration has been faced with a number of proposed legislations that have been the center of discussion in the Nitijela in the past several years, and to date, have not been resolved yet.


Bill# 23–Social Security (Funeral expenses amendment) Act, 2003

This bill was introduced on September 10, 2004 aimed to amend Section 140 of the Act by inserting additional provision immediately following subsection (3) that will obligate MISSA to make available immediately the maximum sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) from the Retirement Fund to assist in defraying the costs associated with funeral arrangements for a deceased wage earner. Such amount shall be deducted from the total sum of benefits payable to the surviving beneficiaries of the deceased wage earner.

Bill# 50–Social Security (Surviving spouse & old age benefits amendment) Act, 2005

This bill was introduced on February 16, 2005 aimed to amend Section 135 of the Act in order to allow beneficiaries who may be entitled to old age benefits and surviving spouse benefits to receive such benefits at the same time. Section 135 currently prohibits beneficiaries who may otherwise be entitled to receive more than one type of benefit under the Act, from receiving more than one type of benefit at the same time, and requires the beneficiary to elect the benefit to be paid out. This bill proposes however to exempt persons who may be entitled only to old age benefits and surviving spouse benefits from the prohibition and to allow such beneficiaries to receive these two benefits.

Bill# 57–Social Security (Repeal of Earnings Test) Act, 2003 

This bill was introduced in 2003 aimed to abolish the following provision under Part VI, sections 135 (2), 136 (2), (3) and (4), 137 (2), 140 (1) and (2):
"For recipients of retirement benefits who are under 62 and are working, the benefit amount shall be reduced by $1.00 for every $3.00 earned in a quarter in excess of $1,500. The adjustment in benefits will be applied as soon as practicable following the quarter in which the earnings were made and reported. No adjustment is made for claimants who have attained the age of 62 years."

On October 24, 2006, the original bill was further amended, which intends to increase the Earnings test threshold from $1,500 per quarter to $5,000 per quarter.

Bill# 104–Social Security (Amendment) Act, 2006 - Removal of disability re-examination

This bill was introduced on August 11, 2006 aimed at doing away with the current requirement under the Act that persons receiving benefits under Section 137, submit to periodic medical examinations as and when required by the Administration. The amendment limits the requirement for a medical examination or evidence of that nature only at the time of application for benefits and removes the Administration’s ability to call for further evidence in the case of persons receiving benefits under Section 137.

Bill#114–Social Security (Amendment) Act, 2006 - Amendment in the number of benefits and lien for contributions

This bill was introduced in October 16, 2006 aimed to delete Section 135 (1) and the inclusion of a new provision which will allow a person to receive more than one (1) type of benefit as specified in Section 136 through 139 of this Chapter or more than one benefit of any type. Currently, the legislation does not allow a person to receive more than one type of benefit a a time, or more than one benfit of the same type.

This bill also proposes to amend Section 158, in order to remove the priority which the Social Security lien has over other liens. This means that the lien which the Administration holds over property of a delinquent or self-employed worker no longer has priority, but like other liens, will depend on the date on which the lien was first registered.

Bill# 129–Social Security (Amendment) Act, 2006 - Amendment of lump-sum benefit

This bill was introduced on October 23, 2006 aimed to amend Section 141 Subsection (1) of the Act. Currently, if a worker or self-employed worker is permanently unable to work due to old age, illness, physical disability or some other reason, and that worker is not entitled to other benefits in Sections 136-139 (old age insurance benefit; disability insurance benefit; surviving spouse/parents insurance benefit; and surviving child’s insurance benefit), that worker is entitled to four percent (4%) of his or her cumulative covered earnings. Cumulative covered earnings (CCE) is the sum of all of the covered earnings of a worker or self-employed worker, or the total amount of contributions by both the worker and the worker’s employer.

This bill seeks to change the entitlement under Section 141(1) so that if the worker is not entitled to the other benefits referred to earlier, he or she will be entitled to 100% or the full amount of that worker’s own contribution into the Fund. This entitlement is to be paid in one lump sum payment.