Lawmakers Push Bipartisan Social Security Commissions Before 22% Benefit Cut Hits in 6 Years
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 20
Lawmakers Push Bipartisan Social Security Commissions Before 22% Benefit Cut Hits in 6 Years
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Aug 20
Summary
Two bipartisan proposals—the Senate-backed Promise Act and the House Bipartisan Social Security Commission Act—would set up special panels to draft plans to restore Social Security solvency.
The push comes with the retirement trust fund just six years from insolvency, when current law would trigger an automatic 22% benefit cut—about $500 a month per retiree on average.
Supporters argue commissions have often shaped major Social Security laws, including the 1983 Greenspan Commission deal that extended solvency for roughly 50 years.
Critics including AARP and Americans for Tax Reform oppose benefit restraints or tax increases, but backers say waiting would leave Congress choosing between abrupt cuts, sharp tax hikes or far more borrowing.
The debate has intensified after the Senate Finance Committee reopened the issue, holding its first full-committee hearing on Social Security solvency in 15 years.