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Insider’s Report: Senate Hearing Focuses on Social Security |
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Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) |
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Senate Budget Committee chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and his colleagues welcomed two panels of witnesses to a hearing on Capitol Hill on September 10th to discuss the future of Social Security. The star witness was Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner Martin O’Malley, who took command of the agency in late 2023 pledging to improve customer service.
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Democrats at the hearing criticized the House Republican Study Committee’s 2025 spending plan that would gut Social Security if implemented, cutting benefits for 3 out of 4 Americans. Democratic committee members reiterated their commitment not only to maintaining the solvency of the program’s trust fund (which is projected to become depleted in 2035 without Congressional action) but expanding benefits.
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Senator Whitehouse (RI) challenged Republicans to introduce Social Security legislation — which they haven’t done since 2016. (That bill would have cut benefits by more than 30%). Democrats say that their goal is clear: maintain the financial health of Social Security without cutting benefits — mainly by demanding that high earners begin paying their fair share in payroll contributions.
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The nation’s nearly 70 million Social Security beneficiaries not only deserve an expanded and strengthened program; they rightly expect proper customer service from the Social Security Administration (SSA). |
NCPSSM’s senior Social Security expert, Maria Freese, praised O’Malley’s advocacy for better SSA funding: |
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With 10,000 Americans turning 65 each day, it’s critical that SSA receive adequate funds each year during the appropriations process. Commissioner O’Malley did a masterful job of explaining the negative consequences that would result if the agency continues to be underfunded.” – Maria Freese, NCPSSM Senior Policy Advisor
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Democrats have called on GOP lawmakers to support commonsense bills that have been introduced in Congress, including the “Social Security 2100 Act,” which would go a long way to shore up Social Security for the future. Yet, as last week’s hearing demonstrates, there is little consensus between the two parties as of now — and perhaps little in sight.
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New Podcast Episode: Vote4Social Security Episode 1: A New Deal Program That’s a Great Deal for Everyone |
Check out the National Committee’s latest “You Earned This” podcast episode. This is the first episode in a special series of voter education podcasts about Social Security for 2024! Our guest is labor economist, author and columnist Kathryn Edwards. She explains why this New Deal program is a Good Deal for Americans of all ages — including younger adults. This is all about why we must protect Social Security — and vote accordingly!
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Ask Us! |
Whether you’re retired or approaching retirement, our team of experts in the field of Social Security policy is available to answer your questions about benefits. You can either search our archives for valuable advice on a broad range of concerns or submit your question here.
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This week’s question is: Do the earnings of your final ten years of employment have any special bearing on your Social Security benefits once you retire? |
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Whether you’re currently retired or approaching retirement, we can help answer your questions and provide valuable advice on Social Security. |
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Your support sustains our campaigns in Washington to protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare. |
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Learn more about the Social Security program and the policies the National Committee supports that would strengthen your earned benefits. |
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Max Richtman, President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said in a statement following the debate that while Vice President Harris reinforced “her commitment to Social Security and Medicare,” former President Trump “was mum on the topic.” Mr. Richtman added, “At least when Trump has nothing to say, he cannot compound his many conflicting and confusing statements about these programs.” (September 11, 2024, Raw Story, Jake Johnson) |
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Social Security, and Medicare Telephone Town Hall focused on issues impacting seniors with special guest Max Richtman, President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM). (September 3, 2024, Telephone Town Hall Meeting) |
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In a phone interview, Anne Montgomery, a senior expert on health care policy at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said: “I imagine there would be more efforts from various parts of the health care sector to file litigation when they are unhappy for whatever reason with rules or regulations from CMS and HHS.” (September 5, 2024, Association of Health Care Journalists, Joseph Burns and Liz Seegert) |
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NCPSSM President Max Richman strongly supported Senator Bob Casey 's (PA) call for requiring the government to change the way it calculates SSA’s annual COLAs. “The current CPI-W has fallen far short of providing needed inflation protection because it fails to adequately measure the spending patterns of seniors,” says Richtman. (September 16, 2024, Rhode Island News Today, Herb Weiss) |
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The SAFE Social Security Act proposes to phase out the payroll tax cap so that payroll taxes apply to every dollar of wages earned, a change Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said will ensure that all American taxpayers contribute equally. “Enactment of the SAFE Social Security Act would give all Americans confidence that Social Security will be there for them when they need it,” said NCPSSM President and CEO Max Richtman (September 12, 2024, Spectrum News, Michael Tsai) |
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Last week, Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley urged lawmakers to adopt a budget anomaly requested by the Biden administration to increase funding for the Social Security Administration in any stopgap deal to avert a government shutdown. (September 11, 2024, Government Executive, Erich Wagner) |
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