House Social Security subcommittee hearing on Social Security benefits for economically vulnerable beneficiaries

The Social Security subcommittee held a meeting this morning to review proposals aimed at advocating policy changes to Social Security benefits for the needs of financially vulnerable Americans like low-income workers, elderly widows, people with disabilities, and some public employees.

Most of the panel members were promoting the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 147) of 2005 by Rep Howard McKeon [R, CA] with Senate companion S. 169 by Senator Diane Feinstein [D, CA], which aims to repeal two federal pension offsets that school employees have taken a huge hit from. For example, witness Peg Cagle, a public school teacher in Los Angeles, left her job in the private sector for a fulfilling career as a teacher; however, because of her transition, she now fears losing all of her social security benefits when she retires.

While members disagreed on the measures that should be taken to modify the current system, there was agreement amongst participants that the system is imbalanced. According to the Acting Deputy Commissioner for Disability and Income Security Programs, David A. Rust, the extent of Social Security coverage varies from state to state. For example, he noted that in Vermont, only 3% of employees are not covered by social security, where as in Ohio, 97% of employees are not covered.

Committee members also agreed that the economic challenges the country faces make it more difficult for the Bush administration to respond to Social Security reform. The committee will work on reaching a bipartisan measure that increases Social Security funding between 5 to 80 billion dollars during a 10 year period.