Expanding full Social Security benefits to millions of citizens has bipartisan approval, but some senators are skeptical about making the move because of what it will do to the deficit.
The Social Security Fairness Act would repeal the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision, which reduces Social Security benefits for those who receive pensions based on earnings from employment that are not subjected to the payroll tax and are not covered by Social Security. The bill passed in the House of Representatives 327-75 last month, and it will likely pass in the Senate despite warnings that doing so will expedite the end of the current program.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who will be the Senate minority leader in the next Congress, vowed to put the bill up for a vote before lawmakers leave Washington, D.C., which has some deficit hawks concerned about its impacts.
The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the legislation would add $195 billion to the federal deficit over the next 10 years, which is a matter of concern for fiscal conservatives. The increased payments with these repeals would also take more out of the Social Security trust funds, with the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund projected to be insolvent by 2033. Once the fund goes insolvent, recipients will be unable to receive their full payments on time.
The Associated Press reports that Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) is deciding on whether he will vote for the legislation, noting that “nothing ever gets paid for, so if it’s further indebtedness.” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) also opposes the bill over fiscal concerns.
Maya MacGuineas, the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, warned the legislation would only race the program toward fiscal demise.
“It is truly astonishing that at a time when we are just nine years away from the trust fund for the nation’s largest program being completely exhausted, lawmakers are about to consider speeding that up by six months,” MacGuineas said in a statement. “And add on top of that another $200 billion in new borrowing as a result. We are racing to our own fiscal demise.”
She also called on Congress to pass legislation to “make the program’s finances sustainable over the long term,” an issue both parties have largely been unable to accomplish as insolvency creeps closer.
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Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA), one of the lead co-sponsors of the bill in the House, predicted in a statement earlier this week that the bill has the support of more than 60 senators and called on the upper chamber to send the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk.
“We defied the odds and fought back sneak attacks to successfully complete a discharge petition that resulted in the first vote in history to repeal the WEP and GPO,” Graves said. “The heavy lifting is done. The path to victory could not be clearer. A WEP-GPO repeal could be in the stockings of millions of public service retirees this Christmas. Pass H.R. 82 now!”
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
