WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Mike Braun (R-IN) introduced the Save Our Seniors Act, which would help protect the long-term solvency of Social Security by requiring the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to include the honest projection of its financial health in its annual ten-year economic outlook.
“In eight years Social Security trust fund will be broke. The American people deserve to know this,” said Dr. Cassidy. “The Save Our Seniors Act puts a spotlight on something that every Social Security recipient now, or in the future, has the right to know.”
“I am committed to protecting our seniors by making good on the promises we’ve made to them, and our bipartisan Save Our Seniors Act is proof of that,” said Senator Manchin. “Transparency is vital when it comes to the future of Social Security, and our legislation prioritizes the long-term solvency of the program while also highlighting critical information on its fiscal stability. I’m proud to introduce this commonsense bill with Senators Cassidy and Braun and I will continue working to get it across the finish line.”
“Every American needs to know the facts about our nation’s dire financial situation,” said Senator Braun. “The Social Security trust fund is on the way to going bust, and if we’re going to protect Social Security for seniors who rely on it we can’t bury our heads in the sand.”
The Save Our Seniors Act would ensure that a simple and easy-to-understand graph depicting the actual outlook for the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Fund is included in the CBO’s ten-year economic outlook. Similar graphs exist in other Social Security related reports, like the Trustees Reports, but not in a document as widely viewed as the CBO’s outlook, which is used by members of Congress and economists to get a detailed look at the health of our nation’s economy and the federal budget.
U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra (R-IA-04) introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
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, 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, Washington Examiner, and Wall Street Journal.
Last year, the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds moved up the Social Security insolvency deadline a full year. CBO also 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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