Trustees Report Signals That Now Is the Time to Strengthen Social Security

“The takeaway from the latest Social Security Trustees report is this:  Congress must strengthen the program’s finances without delay. The Trustees project that the combined Social Security retirement and disability trust fund will become depleted by 2035, one year later than projected in their previous report. At that point, every Social Security beneficiary will suffer a 20% cut to their benefits. While the trust fund insolvency date may fluctuate from year to year, the urgent need to boost the program’s financing and benefits remains consistent.  Rep. John Larson’s Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust legislation would extend trust fund solvency by requiring high wage earners to contribute their fair share through an adjustment in the payroll wage cap. The bill has more than 200 Democratic cosponsors in the House, but not one Republican has stepped forward to endorse Social Security 2100. Over the years, we have heard the GOP call for raising the retirement age, privatization, and more recently, ‘sunsetting’ Social Security and other vital programs every five years.  But poll after poll shows that, across party lines, the American people want the kind of improvements in Rep. Larson’s bill, not harmful benefit cuts. Seniors struggling to meet rising living expenses need Social Security to be boosted and strengthened. The pandemic, runaway inflation and devastating stock market losses serve to remind us how vital a robust Social Security program is to workers, retirees, the disabled and their families. The clock is running down. The time for fair, just, and equitable action that safeguards Social Security’s financial stability is now.” – Max Richtman, President and CEO, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare