Delegates reintroduce SSI Equality Act to expand benefits to all islands

On July 29, 2025, the Congressional representatives of Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa reintroduced the bipartisan Supplemental Security Income Equality Act to Congress. The act’s purpose is to expand the benefits of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to the US territories. SSI  provides monthly payments to  the elderly and disabled who have little to no income and resources. Currently, residents of all 50 states and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI) are eligible for SSI benefits. However, residents of the four other territories are not.

Like Social Security and Medicaid, SSI is an essential service for many US citizens.

“This [act is] about equality—plain and simple, “ Representative James Moylan (R) of Guam states.” Americans living in the territories should not be treated as second-class citizens. By reintroducing this bipartisan bill, we are standing up for the principle that geography should never determine access to basic federal support.” 

Supplemental Security Income was established by Congress in 1972 and signed into law by then-President Richard Nixon (R). Six years later, the residents of the NMI became eligible for the SSI program due to a provision in the Covenant. (The Covenant is the mutually binding document between the NMI and the US.) In 2022, eligible citizens in the remaining four US territories were denied access to SSI on the basis that the islands do not pay federal income taxes. However, dissenting opinions contend that a person’s tax status has never been a proper criterion for determining their access to fundamental rights, such as SSI. 

On August 8, Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández (D) of Puerto Rico added to the current discussion,praising the demonstrated congressional bipartisanship as a good sign. 

“The fact that we filed this bill with a Republican colleague is proof that we will work across party lines to advance our goals,” he said. “This legislation seeks to ensure that the most vulnerable—single-income seniors, people with disabilities, and children born with chronic conditions—receive this benefit.”

Since its introduction on July 29 and as of the date of this article’s publication, the Supplemental Security Income Equality Act has not moved further through the legislative process. As written in the act, the goal is for the extension of SSI to take effect at the start of the next federal fiscal year (beginning October 1).