U.S. Senator Russ Feingold was joined today by former Connecticut
Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly, Associate Commissioner for Retirement
Policy at the Social Security Administration, at a Social Security forum
held at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Feingold also addressed
Social Security’s future at his Walworth County Listening Session, which
was held at 9 a.m. at Lake Geneva City Hall.
"As a Nation we have made a promise to workers, and especially our
young people, that Social Security will be there for them when they
retire. As a matter of political reality, there is no firmer commitment of
the United States," said Feingold. "If we don’t address this issue now, it
will be harder and more costly to change in the future. Social Security
reform is important, and it is important now if we want to keep our
promise to the next generation."
The Social Security Trustees released their annual actuarial report at
the end of March, which said that the trust fund will remain solvent
through 2037, three years longer than predicted in last year’s report. To
maintain solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund for 75 years, action
is needed which would be the equivalent to raising payroll tax receipts by
1.89% of payroll or making equivalent cuts in benefits.
The Social Security Trust Fund is currently running surpluses. This
year the trust fund is taking in nearly $100 billion more in payroll tax
revenues than it pays out in Social Security benefits, building up assets,
and also helping to reduce the publicly held debt. Reducing the debt helps
strengthen Social Security. It does so by spurring the kind of strong
economy that is the best protection for that program; it does so by paying
down our government’s obligations now in anticipation of the increased
obligations those programs will place on future budgets; and, it does so
by creating a fiscal buffer that will help protect Trust Funds from the
vagaries of changing economic projections and the demands of other policy
priorities. "We can’t use this surplus to fund tax cuts and more
government spending. Rather we should save it or should put it aside in
order to protect Social Security. We must stop using this surplus now so
our children will have Social Security available to them," said
Feingold.
"It’s important that young people are part of this dialogue. What
Social Security looks like in the future is up to all of us. The debate
about Social Security should be held not only in the halls of government,
but in towns and on campuses across America," said Congresswoman
Kennelly.
Kennelly represented Connecticut’s First District from 1982 to 1998 and
joined the Social Security Administration in 1999. In addition to working
as she did today to inform and educate the American people about Social
Security, she leads the Office of Retirement Policy, which is responsible
for providing analysis and development in the areas of social insurance,
financing, and economic policy. When she was in Congress, she served as
Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and was the ranking member of
the Subcommittee on Social Security.
