Number: 98-789 Title: Social Security: Proposed Changes to the Earnings Test Authors: Debra Whitman, Domestic Social Policy Division Abstract: On April 7, 2000, President Clinton signed H.R. 5, the Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act. The new law (P.L. 106-182) eliminated the Social Security earnings test - which reduces the benefits of recipients who work and earn more than a specified amount - for recipients between the "full retirement age" (currently age 65 and six months) and age 70, effective January 1, 2000. In the 109th Congress, Representatives E. Clay Shaw and Gene Green have introduced bills (H.R. 750 and H.R. 276, respectively) that would eliminate the earnings test for recipients age 62 and older. Pages: 6 Date: March 10, 2005