Social Security Warning Issued by Major Seniors Group Over Push for Change
AARP, one of the nation’s largest seniors advocacy groups, is warning lawmakers against a bipartisan proposal that would accelerate Social Security reform.
AARP said the Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone (PROMISE) Act could limit public scrutiny of future changes affecting millions of retirees.
“Strengthening Social Security should happen through regular order, in full public view, with openness and transparency — rather than through a process that limits the type of amendments and sets arbitrary procedural deadlines to short-circuit the debate,” wrote Nancy LeaMond, AARP’s chief advocacy and engagement officer, in a letter to lawmakers this week.
The PROMISE Act was introduced July 14 by Senators Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, and Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, and several other bipartisan colleagues.
Why It Matters
The debate comes as Social Security faces increasing financial pressure. According to the most recent projections, the program’s trust funds are expected to be depleted in the next decade unless Congress acts.
At that point, beneficiaries would see automatic reductions to their monthly checks.
Because more than 70 million Americans receive Social Security benefits, any proposal to update the program’s financial situation is likely to face intense scrutiny from lawmakers and the larger public.
What To Know
The PROMISE Act would direct the Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB), an independent bipartisan panel established by Congress, to draft legislation designed to keep Social Security’s trust funds solvent for at least 50 years. The proposal would then receive expedited consideration in Congress.
“AARP’s opposition is not so much about denying that Social Security faces a serious financing problem as it is about pushing back on a process it believes could rush enormous benefit and tax decisions through legislation with not enough public accountability,” Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek.
While the bill is framed as a way to break years of political deadlock and force Congress to confront Social Security’s looming financing challenges before automatic benefit cuts, AARP said that giving such a central role to an unelected advisory board could reduce transparency.
Lawmakers would also be more limited in their ability to debate and amend proposals.
“If every other bill in Congress goes through regular order, why would something as important as Social Security get a special process that cuts off debate, that limits the kind of amendments, that limits the kind of things you can talk about?” Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president for Government Affairs, said in a statement. “To us, that just doesn’t make sense.”
Ultimately, AARP objects to delegating the drafting of legislation to the Social Security Advisory Board rather than leaving that responsibility entirely in the hands of elected lawmakers.
“We agree with you that Congress needs to act to address Social Security’s financial challenges and to strengthen Social Security for generations to come,” LeaMond wrote. “But how Congress acts matters.”
However, the lawmakers backing the PROMISE Act have argued that Congress has spent years avoiding difficult decisions about Social Security’s finances and that a structured bipartisan process will be necessary to move reform discussions forward.
“With the trust funds nearing insolvency, Congress cannot remain gridlocked,” Michele Stockwell, president of Bipartisan Policy Center Action, said in the organization’s endorsement of the PROMISE Act.
Stockwell also said the bill creates “a serious bipartisan process to break the status quo of inaction.”
However, bypassing much of the traditional legislative process raises legitimate concerns about accountability, said Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast.
“Fast-tracking Social Security reform without a fully transparent commission seems contrary to what is needed,” Thompson told Newsweek. “The scope of the program and the challenges it faces are simply too significant to rush through without broad public input and open debate.”
What Happens Next
The PROMISE Act remains in the early stages of the legislative process. If enacted, the Social Security Advisory Board would still need to develop their own proposal to fix the program’s finances before Congress would consider the recommendations.
“If Republicans maintain control of both chambers of Congress, this type of proposal would have a better chance of advancing,” Thompson said. “If the current political landscape remains divided, I think the proposal is likely dead-on arrival.”
For now, AARP is urging lawmakers to reject any approach that bypasses the traditional legislative process.
“AARP’s resistance could weaken the bill because few lawmakers want to be portrayed as ignoring the country’s most influential organization for older Americans,” Beene said.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Gray R. Thomas