The Clergy Act is currently in the early stages of the legislative process. It was recently sent to the Senate Committee on Finance for review. The bill is actively moving, but no future votes or hearings have been scheduled yet.
Legislative Progress
Senate
House
President
Law
Could go either way
This bill has support from both parties and fixes a specific rule for a small group of people, making it likely to move forward without much pushback.
How we got here
This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.
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Reintroduced
Reintroduced from S. 4126 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
This bill gives religious leaders a second chance to join Social Security. Currently, many ministers and members of religious orders can choose to opt out of the system for religious reasons, but that choice is usually permanent.
The policy creates a special window for clergy to change their minds. If they previously chose not to participate, they would have about two years starting in 2028 to apply to get back into the program.
To rejoin, clergy members must pay the taxes they would have owed for the years they are opting back into. This ensures they are contributing fairly to the system before they can collect benefits later in life.
Once a person chooses to opt back into Social Security under this law, they cannot change their mind again. The decision to rejoin is final.
The government would be required to create a plan to tell religious leaders about this change. The IRS and Social Security Administration would work together to make sure people know they have this option.
Impact Analysis
Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.
Milestones
2 milestones2 actions
Feb 19, 2025Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Feb 19, 2025
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
No votes, news coverage, or related bills recorded for this bill yet.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Clergy Act
Bill NumberS 639
Congress119th Congress
ChamberSenate
Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
