U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) on Sept. 29 issued a statement calling for congressional action after a new analysis indicated Social Security benefit cuts could be larger than previously expected — as much as roughly 26% if the program’s retirement trust fund is depleted in 2032.
Gillibrand, the top Democrat on the Senate Aging Committee, pointed to this month’s analysis and the Social Security Trustees’ annual report, which the release said projects depletion of the retirement trust fund by 2032. In the statement, her office urged passage of the Social Security Expansion Act, legislation she introduced that would lift the current payroll-tax cap by subjecting income above $250,000 to the Social Security payroll tax. Her office said that change would extend solvency for about 75 years and that more than 91% of households would not face a tax increase, according to a one-page summary cited in the release.
The release attributed the deeper projected benefit cuts to revenue changes in recent federal policy, saying lower income-tax rates enacted last year reduced taxes on Social Security benefits and that immigration and enforcement policies have also reduced payroll-tax revenue. Those assertions were presented by Gillibrand’s office in its statement.
Gillibrand’s statement framed the legislation as a targeted fix that would require the wealthiest households to pay payroll taxes on earnings above a higher threshold. The full text of the bill is publicly available, and the release links to analysis cited by the senator’s office.
This item is based on a Sept. 29 press release from Senator Gillibrand’s office and links included there to outside analyses and government reports.
