WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) delivered the keynote speech at the National Institute on Retirement Security’s (NIRS) 15th Annual Retirement Policy Conference. America needs a bipartisan solution to save all Americans from a 23% cut in Social Security benefits in eight years. During his speech, he outlined the “Big Idea” from his Senate Social Security working group that will build a bridge to solvency and secure it for decades to come.
“In about eight years the only thing that will be going out is a 23% cut in benefits to those currently receiving and all future Social Security beneficiaries. What are we as Americans going to do about it?” said Dr. Cassidy.
“We need people to understand this proposal. We’ve come up with the ‘Big Idea’ that begins to address the issues of Social Security just like you are addressing your pension fund issues. People think this is a radical idea. No, this is what you’re already doing,” continued Dr. Cassidy.
In addition to laying out the investment fund, separate from the Social Security Trust Fund, he listed numerous new provisions to create a stronger and fairer program. This includes a poverty alleviation provision and the repeal of the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), Government Pension Offset (GPO), and Retirement Earnings Test (RET).
He also highlighted the first bipartisan, bicameral push in decades to reform the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which has not been updated in nearly 40 years and currently punishes older and disabled Americans for saving for emergencies and their futures. The SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act would update SSI’s asset limits for the first time since the 1980s to ensure disabled and elderly Americans can prepare themselves for a financial emergency without putting the benefits they rely on to live at risk.
Background
Cassidy led a bipartisan working group with U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME) to preserve and protect Social Security.
Last spring, he released the inaugural Bill on the Hill video where he asked Capitol Hill visitors from across the country their thoughts on the looming 23% benefit cut to Social Security and presented his “Big Idea” to save, strengthen, and secure America’s retirement system.
At a Senate Finance Hearing last year, he questioned U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on the Biden administration’s lack of a plan to address Social Security at a Senate Finance hearing. He also delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling on President Biden to honor his pledge to protect Social Security and meet with a bipartisan group of senators discussing options to save the program.
Cassidy has discussed the “Big Idea” at a public forum with AARP on the future of Social Security, outlined his Social Security plan in a fireside chat with the Bipartisan Policy Committee, and authored an op-ed in the National Review and Washington Examiner.
In March 2023, the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds moved up the Social Security insolvency deadline a full year. One month prior, the Congressional Budget Office updated its estimates saying Social Security is heading toward a financial cliff in 2032. They found Medicare and Social Security spending rapidly outpacing federal tax revenues further hastening the insolvency deadlines.
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