The Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act (SSIRA)

In 2013, Representative Raúl Grijalva of Arizona proposed a bill with number of updates to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. The key features of Grijalva’s bill, the SSIRA, are as follows:

-Increasing the SSI resource limit to $10,000 for individuals and $15,000 for couples
-Increasing the general income disregard to $110 per month and the earned income disregard to $357 per month
-Eliminating the In-Kind Support and Maintenance provision
-Eliminating the transfer of assets penalty

For reference, “income disregard” refers to the amount of income earned that does not factor into how much SSI a beneficiary receives. “In-Kind Support and Maintenance” refers to the SSI rule that reduces benefits for an SSI recipient who is living in someone else’s house and getting in-kind support. The “transfer of assets penalty” refers to a period of benefit ineligibility that kicks in when someone is in the process of transferring resources to another person.