For over 80 years, Americans have been paying part of their hard-earned wages for Social Security – a program many Americans rely on in their old age for retirement security. But you may not know this: Social Security also helps Americans in the event they become disabled.
As important as Social Security is, the simple fact of the matter is that it is in trouble. Since 2010, the Social Security retirement program has been paying out more in benefits than it has been getting in taxes – there just aren’t enough workers to support retiring Baby Boomers. For instance, in the mid-1950s there were 8.6 workers for each beneficiary. Today there are just 2.8 workers. In other words, the number of beneficiaries is rising much more rapidly than the number of workers – workers who will need to support beneficiaries.
Moreover, history has shown we cannot tax our way to solvency. When Social Security first began, the payroll tax was only 2% on the first $3,000 in wages – which was evenly split between employers and employees. However, the payroll tax rate has since been increased to 12.4%. What’s more, as of 2018 the payroll tax rate applies on the first $128,400 in wages.
At the end of the day, I firmly believe that the American people are owed a fact-based conversation about fairly and responsibly fixing Social Security for good. As Chairman of the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, I am committed to leading this much-needed conversation. Seniors and today’s workers deserve nothing less. To learn about a proposal I introduced last Congress to get the conversation started (the Social Security Reform Act), CLICK HERE.
As for the Social Security Disability Insurance program, the Bipartisan Budget Act (H.R. 1314) passed last Congress will ensure that all benefits will be paid through 2022, which includes the nearly 8,000 Collin County folks I represent. Previously, Social Security’s Trustees had warned that come 2016 the program would be unable to pay full benefits. The Bipartisan Budget Act also included some of my commonsense measures such as ending the use of medical evidence from doctors who have committed fraud, and tougher penalties for those who commit fraud against Social Security. But make no mistake about it, there is more left to do to make this program work better for individuals with disabilities and taxpayers.
I have long held that Congress has a moral responsibility to ensure those with disabilities get their full benefits. At the same time, however, Congress also has the responsibility to address the waste, fraud, and abuse that is plaguing the program and costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Bottom-line: we need to put this program on a sustainable path for the long-term AND ensure that it’s only for those who are truly disabled.
My other priorities as Chairman include: 1) helping to prevent identity theft by better protecting Americans’ Social Security Numbers (SSNs), 2) addressing waste, fraud, and abuse in the disability program, and 3) ensuring that teachers, fire fighters, and police officers are treated just like all other workers when it comes to Social Security.
To learn more about my efforts, you can click on the following bullets to jump down to that portion of the page:
Protecting Americans’ Identity & Social Security Numbers
As Chairman of the Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, I have made it a top priority of mine to protect Americans’ identities. On April 16, 2015, former President Obama signed into law H.R. 2, which included my measure to protect seniors’ identities by ending the use of SSNs on Medicare cards. You will also be pleased to know that in May, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that it will begin issuing these new Medicare cards without SSNs starting in April, 2018!
I also recently reintroduced H.R. 1513, the Social Security MAIL Act of 2017, which would require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to remove SSNs from mailings when their use is unnecessary, and would require the agency to justify any continued use of these numbers. Believe it or not Social Security actually mails documents with individuals’ full SSNs on them, even when it isn’t needed. In fact in 2015 Social Security mailed more than 233 million documents with SSNs on them. What’s more is that Social Security’s Inspector General has found that slightly more than half of the addresses for some of the mailings aren’t right. This makes no sense. This bill that protects Americans’ SSNs was passed out of the Ways and Means Committee during the 114th Congress by a unanimous voice vote in July 2016. I’m pleased to let you know that a similar bill, H.R. 624, the Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act was signed into law in September 2017, which will stop the unnecessary mailing of SSNs. This is a great victory that will better safeguard folks SSNs!
Disability-Focused Legislation
115th Congress Efforts:
As part of my commitment to better protecting taxpayer dollars, while at the same time making the disability program work better for those who depend on it, this Congress I have introduced the following bills:
- H.R. 2031, Social Security Disability Insurance and Unemployment Benefits Double Dip Elimination Act: Stop individuals from double-dipping by getting both unemployment and disability benefits at the same time.
- H.R. 3309, Social Security Online Tools Innovation Act: Require Social Security to develop online tools to help beneficiaries assess the impact of earnings on eligibility for and benefit amounts of state and Federal programs.
- H.R. 3385, Guiding Responsible and Improved Disability Decisions (GRIDD) Act: Require Social Security to update the 1979 medical-vocational regulatory guidelines for determining disability.
- H.R. 3310, Promoting Opportunity for Disability Benefit Applicants Act: Enable Social Security to provide denied applicants information on public and private non-profit employment support services.
- H.R. 3386, Improving the Quality of Disability Decisions Act: Require Social Security to review decisions by Administrative Law Judges.
114th Congress Efforts:
In the last Congress, two of my bills became law with the passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act:
- H.R. 1936, Improving the Integrity of Disability Evidence Act: Require Social Security to only use medical evidence from reputable sources when determining whether an individual is disabled.
- H.R. 2359, Disability Fraud Reduction and Unethical Deception (FRAUD) Prevention Act: Strengthen Social Security’s ability to punish those who commit fraud.
Supporting our Public Servants
In order to ensure Collin County and Texas teachers, firefighters, and police officers are treated no differently than other workers when it comes to their Social Security benefits, last Congress I proudly cosponsored H.R. 711, the Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act of 2015, which would have done away with the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP).
Just because someone happens to serve the public doesn’t mean that they should be penalized when it comes to their retirement. Unfortunately, many of our public servants who have paid into Social Security are treated unfairly due to the WEP. The men and women who teach our children and protect our communities, at times even putting their lives on the line, work hard – and they deserve to have their work treated the same as every other American who pays into Social Security.
Protecting the 2nd Amendment and Due Process Rights of Social Security Beneficiaries
On his way out the door, President Obama finalized a rule that discriminated against individuals with disabilities and deprived law-abiding Americans their 2nd Amendment rights. Under this rule, certain Social Security disability beneficiaries who also happen to need help managing their benefits would be stripped of their 2nd Amendment rights without due process. Old age or a disability does not make someone a threat to society. These folks should be able to defend themselves just like everyone else, and Social Security has no business stripping them of that right. That is why, to overturn this rule, I introduced a resolution of disapproval to strike down this rule. My resolution, H.J.Res 40, passed the House on February 2nd, 2017, and was signed into law by President Trump on February 28th, 2017. I'm also pleased that the resolution was widely supported by the disability community (including the National Council on Disability and the American Civil Liberties Union) as well as the NRA.
Social Security needs to focus on its job - making sure Americans receive the benefits they've earned - and my resolution lets it do just that.
