PRINTER'S NO. 3143
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
207
Session of
2022
INTRODUCED BY CRUZ, SCHLOSSBERG, SANCHEZ, HILL-EVANS, FREEMAN
AND KRAJEWSKI, MAY 24, 2022
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGING AND OLDER ADULT SERVICES,
MAY 24, 2022
A RESOLUTION
Urging the Congress of the United States to pass legislation
that would extend the Supplemental Security Income program to
residents of all United States territories.
WHEREAS, Since Supplemental Security Income program (SSI)
payments began in 1974, the program has "guaranteed a minimum
level of income" for resource-limited, low-income seniors and
low-income individuals with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, Residents of Puerto Rico, Guam, the United States
Virgin Islands and American Samoa are ineligible to receive SSI
despite higher poverty rates and lower assistance program
benefit levels than those of the mainland United States; and
WHEREAS, At almost 44%, 23%, 22% and 58%, the respective
poverty rates of Puerto Rico, Guam, the United States Virgin
Islands and American Samoa far surpass that of the mainland
United States' rate which is 11.4%; and
WHEREAS, Additionally, the eligibility criteria and benefit
amounts of means-tested adult assistance programs available in
most of these territories are more restrictive than SSI; and
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WHEREAS, If the bar against SSI eligibility were to be
eliminated, more than 350,000 people living in Puerto Rico, and
many more in other United States territories, would be granted a
pathway out of poverty by receiving a higher amount of benefits
than currently available to them; and
WHEREAS, Across all branches of the United States government,
there is support for overturning the discriminatory policy of
SSI ineligibility in United States territories; and
WHEREAS, President Joseph R. Biden has called on Congress to
amend the Social Security Act to extend these benefits to
residents of Puerto Rico, stating "there can be no second-class
citizens in the United States of America"; and
WHEREAS, The United States House of Representatives passed
the Build Back Better Act to restore fairness to this economic
security program by giving the residents of Puerto Rico, Guam,
the United States Virgin Islands and American Samoa access to
SSI for the first time in 50 years, however the bill is now
stalled in the United States Senate; and
WHEREAS, H.R. 537, a bill in Congress that would extend SSI
to the residents of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin
Islands, Guam and American Samoa has stalled in the United
States House Committee on Ways and Means since January 2021; and
WHEREAS, On April 21, 2022, the United States Supreme Court
decided United States v. Vaello Madero, No. 20-303, holding that
the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause does not require
Congress to make SSI benefits available to residents of Puerto
Rico to the same extent that it makes those benefits available
to residents of the mainland United States; and
WHEREAS, On its face, the prevailing belief of the Justices
in United States v. Vaello Madero is that the solution should
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come from Congress; and
WHEREAS, Serving as the voice of the people, the Congress of
the United States has a duty to the more than 3.5 million
citizens residing in United States territories to pass
legislation that will give them access to a safety net available
to all other United States citizens; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the Congress of the United
States to pass legislation that would extend the Supplemental
Security Income program to residents of all United States
territories; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
the following:
(1) The President of the United States.
(2) The President pro tempore of the United States
Senate.
(3) The Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives.
(4) The chair of the Committee on Finance of the United
States Senate.
(5) The chair of the Committee on Ways and Means of the
United States House of Representatives.
(6) Each member of Congress from Pennsylvania.
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