# H.R. 8884 (119th): Removing Barriers to Work for Disabled Americans Act

Removing Barriers to Work for Disabled Americans Act This bill reauthorizes through 2031 the Social Security Administration’s (SSA’s) authority to carry out demonstration projects within the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. The bill also imposes requirements related to beneficiary income, project funding, and SSA reporting. SSDI demonstration projects must be designed to promote attachment to the workforce and generally involve temporary changes to SSDI policies tested on a subset of beneficiaries. Participation in a demonstration project must be voluntary. SSA’s authority to carry out these projects expired on December 31, 2022. Under the bill, SSA must ensure that an individual’s participation in a demonstration project does not reduce their total income. Further, the bill specifies that administrative expenses related to demonstration projects must be paid from funds appropriated for administration. Finally, the bill requires SSA to report to Congress 120 days before initiating a demonstration project. This is an increase from 90 days under current law. This advance notification must include evaluation metrics for the relevant project.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: disability_benefits. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: family_policy. Category: children. Lane tag: command.
Lane: program_reauthorization. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: social_security. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: workforce_policy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 283: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill is a prudential administrative measure about how SSA tests workforce-oriented changes to SSDI. It includes voluntariness, income protection, and reporting safeguards, which are goods, but its policy design and cost effects are matters of ordinary prudential dispute. Nothing in the metadata shows that it directly advances or restrains a named moral harm.
Theological note: This bill touches the Christian concern for the vulnerable, including disabled persons, and for meaningful work as a dignified vocation. It also raises stewardship questions about public funds and the honest evaluation of government programs. Its voluntary participation and income-protection provisions bear on consent and on not burdening those in need. These are issue-relevance points only and do not constitute a final moral judgment.

## Recorded votes

Roll 283: On Passage. Yea 232 · Nay 188 · Other 11.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-8884-119/