From Policy Pillars and Priorities: A Bold Vision for a Legislative Pathway Toward Health and Economic Equity issued this month by Richard Neal, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee:
... The framework we present here is Ways and Means Committee Democrats’ plan to make our nation a more just and equitable place. ...
Congress must do more to help American families, especially minority families, have a secure and dignified retirement. Social Security provides the foundation of retirement security, and its benefits must be strengthened and improved, particularly for low-wage workers. Social Security disability benefits must be protected against harmful attacks. ...
Policy Approaches
•Strengthen and improve Social Security benefits, particularly for low-wage workers
•Protect Social Security disability benefits from harmful regulations and other attacks designed to reduce access to benefits ...
As far as Social Security goes, that's all there is in this document. Note that there's no legislative action even suggested as far as Social Security disability benefits go and only the vaguest suggestion that something unspecified might be done more generally to "strengthen and improve Social Security benefits." SSI isn't even mentioned.
Perhaps I shouldn't be critical. Perhaps this is meant to be something similar to the vapid "mission statements" that many corporations and organizations pointlessly struggle to put out but, honestly, I don't see even a hint of boldness in this document, at least as far as Social Security is concerned.
Regarding "Strengthen and improve Social Security benefits, particularly for low-wage workers" - To what extent should Social Security benefits be a needs based program? Benefit computations already favor those who have contributed the least into the program. A low wage history does not always reflect the assets or wealth of an individual. I'm going old school, but do you remember Prouty benefits? Did that strengthen and improve Social Security benefits? I processed retirement claims from individuals surprised at their very small SSA benefit and had to explain that investment and rental income are not used to determine their benefit. As to the SSI issue, it would be a very small number of people who would see an increase in their total monthly income if their social security benefit increased. For example, a $25 increase in their monthly SSA check would mean a decrease of $25 in their SSI check. What if the larger SSA check means they are no longer eligible for SSI and how would this effect their eligibility for other needs based and income based programs? Would they receive smaller subsidies for rent, utilities, food, phones, and what else? That $25 increase in SSA benefits could mean an increase of more than $25 in other monthly expenses and more work to complete paperwork for other programs. Perhaps other issues related to this effort inspire this action, such as speeding the bankruptcy of Social Security and/or increasing social security taxes on individuals and businesses to pay for this?
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