As a battle brews in Washington over the future of Social Security, retirees who have just won a years-long fight for their retirement benefits are looking to an even bigger challenge: protecting the program that provides income. stable monthly at around 65 million people.
Political tensions are rising over Social Security as Congress faces a 2023 vote to raise the federal government’s debt ceiling — inescapable legislation that does not authorize new spending but prevents the United States from default on their existing financial obligations. Republican lawmakers have suggested in recent months that a vote on the debt ceiling might be used as leverage to push for changes in Social Security. Reform ideas floated by various Republicans — and widely opposed by Democrats — range from raising the Social Security eligibility age to categorizing program funding as discretionary, meaning Congress would have to vote annually. .
The problem weighs heavily on retirees like Kenneth Stribling of Milwaukee, who spent decades in the freight industry as a dockworker and is now chairman of the National United Committee to Protect Pensions, a grassroots organization that just won a battle nearly ten years to protect the vested benefits of retirees in multi-employer defined benefit pension plans in financial difficulty. After attending the group’s annual meeting in early November in Kansas City — where members voted to expand the organization’s mission to include Social Security and Medicare protection — Stribling celebrated his 71st birthday in mid-November at a retirement symposium in Washington, DC, where Social Security issues were prominent.
In early December, Stribling introduced President Joe Biden at a White House event announcing a $36 billion bailout of the Central, Southeast, and Southwest Regions Pension Fund, one of the largest and most underfunded multi-employer pension plans. Days later, he was back at his part-time job, driving a courtesy shuttle for a Milwaukee car dealership — and contemplating the future of Social Security.
“Social Security is such an important part of retirement security,” Stribling told CNET. Retirees are “very serious,” he said, regarding using their collective voice — and the lobbying know-how they’ve acquired on dozens of trips to Washington — to protect the social Security.
More than 22 million people are lifted above the poverty line on Social Security benefits, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy group. But as the population ages, the program is headed for a funding shortfall. The Social Security trust fund that pays retirement benefits is on track to pay the full benefits expected through 2034, according to the trustees’ latest report. Beyond that, the fund’s reserves will run out, but ongoing tax revenue will cover 77% of planned benefits, according to the report.
While many lawmakers in both parties have long agreed that something needs to be done regarding Social Security, the momentum is lacking because any major changes to the popular agenda might spark a voter rebellion. Action has been delayed due to sharp disagreements over proposed solutions that would amount to cutting benefits – such as raising the eligibility age – or generating additional revenue for the program by taking measures such as the increase in the current ceiling on the amount of income subject to social charges.
Why the battle for Social Security will be intense in 2023
One thing is clear, “year by year it gets much harder and more expensive to fix,” Rep. John Larson, a Connecticut Democrat and chairman of the House Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee, told CNET. Committee. “It’s one of the most critical programs in the country, and no one is holding Congress responsible for not voting on it,” he said.
Larson said next year he plans to continue pushing for his Social Security Act 2100, which aims to bolster the trust fund by applying the payroll tax – currently not levied on top salaries. to $147,000 – at salaries above $400,000, while also increasing benefits on average. 2%, among other measures.
The high-stakes debate over the debt ceiling looks particularly precarious in 2023, according to some Capitol Hill veterans. With the Republican majority, the next session of the House of Representatives tallying only a handful of votes, the president will depend on “the most extreme elements of their party just to stay in power”, said Thomas Kahn, the Democratic staff of the House Budget Committee. director from 1997 to 2016, who now teaches at American University. Achieving “a reasonable, negotiated settlement with the Republican conference is going to be exponentially more difficult” than it was in 2011, Kahn said, when a stalemate over the debt ceiling rocked financial markets and sparked an uproar. downgrading of the US government’s credit rating.
Recent comments from some prominent Republican lawmakers linking Social Security concerns to the debt ceiling debate have amplified concerns among retiree advocates. Speaking on opportunities for Social Security reform at a Washington Post event earlier this month, Second Senate Republican John Thune of South Dakota said, “Can the debt limit present this opportunity ? I think it’s possible, but we’ll see. Asked in October whether he intended to push for Social Security reform amid the debt ceiling debate, Republican House Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California said that he wouldn’t “predetermine” anything, according to Punchbowl News. Spokespersons for McCarthy and Thune did not respond to requests for comment.
The Republican Review Committee, a group of more than 150 House Republicans, suggested in a budget document for fiscal year 2023 that the normal Social Security retirement age – the age at which people are eligible to their full benefits – be gradually increased to reflect increased longevity. Another idea floated by Republican Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson in an August episode of the Regular Joe Show podcast was to recategorize Social Security spending, currently considered a mandatory expense by the federal government, as discretionary spending, ahead of be approved by Congress each year. Since programs like Social Security and Medicare are considered mandatory expenses, “if you qualify for that right, you get it, no matter the cost,” Johnson said on the podcast. Compulsory spending, he added, is “on autopilot. You are not doing proper monitoring. You don’t get in there and fix the programs that are going broke. A spokesperson for Johnson did not respond to a request for comment.
Another plan that has raised alarm bells among retirement security advocates was introduced this year by Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott, who suggested that all federal laws — which would include Social Security legislation — should expire in five years. “If a law is worth obeying, Congress can pass it once more,” the report said. Asked regarding the potential impact on retirement security, a spokesperson for Scott shared an audio clip of Scott speaking in mid-December, saying, “I have no interest in cutting. I will not reduce Medicare benefits or Social Security benefits. Scott added: “Almost 70% of our budget, we don’t even vote anymore, which is wrong. We need to make sure those programs are preserved, and the way you make sure those programs are preserved is to go through them every year.
‘A way to hide the ball’ to make changes unpopular with voters
As reform ideas evolve, retiree advocates are keen to keep the debate transparent. A bill sponsored by Sen. Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, would create ‘rescue committees’ for Social Security and other endangered trust funds that might recommend changes to improve solvency, which would then be reviewed quickly in Congress. Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, a social welfare organization, sees the plan as “just a way to hide the ball” to bring regarding changes that are unpopular with voters, she said. Given the importance of the Social Security program, changes must be debated “in a transparent and open process”, she said. “Let everyone see what’s on offer.” A Romney spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The Social Security debate is heating up in Washington just as Stribling’s group, the National United Committee to Protect Pensions, celebrates its improbable victory on pensions and ponders its own future. “We want to keep this organization intact to help in the next big fight, and we know that’s going to be Social Security,” said Bernie Anderson, 70, a retired truck driver in Franklin, Wisconsin, and treasurer of the retirement group. .
“It would be a shame to let this organization evaporate,” said Jack Palush, a retired truck driver in North Royalton, Ohio, and member of the pension group’s advisory board. Given the group’s extensive contacts in Congress, he said, “we’ve established our own brand in Washington.”
Along the way, active members of the group learned how to navigate Capitol Hill in ways big and small — including which lawmakers would let them use their offices to charge their phones or put their feet up during breaks during long days of lobbying, Stribling said.
The Alliance for Retired Americans, an advocacy group of more than 4 million members, wants retirement warriors to be on its side in the battle for Social Security. “They are going to be very valuable. They are used to getting things done,” said Robert Roach Jr., president of the alliance. “They are very influential and they are very active.” The leaders of the two groups plan to meet early next year to define their strategy on social security and broader retirement security issues.
Dana Vargo, director of communications for the pension group, had planned to step down from her role with the organization at the end of this year – but looming retirement security issues changed that. “We kind of wanted to get away into the sunset” when the pension battle was over, she said, but “there’s still work to be done.” As with the issue of pensions, she said, “I know we’re going to do whatever we need to do.
As for Stribling, he said he promised his late wife when he first got involved in the retirement fight that he would not quit until a solution was found. . Although he wants to “try retirement” at some point, he still feels the passion for the job. “I still have that burn in my stomach,” he said. “If I’m needed, I’ll have to.”
