Each of these have been proposed - no farther than just getting an SS actuarial analysis. I have not included the analysis of each but you can see them at link below.. SOME of these proposals will INCREASE the deficit where most of the others will DECREASE it.
However, on the whole, the SS actuary has forecasted these proposals altogether would meet the goal. However, I am a bit concerned as to why we are adding the ones that would increase the long term deficit.
I don’t think many, if any would affect any current beneficiary already receiving benefits. I will have to re-review to make sure
Per the link:
[ME] THIS IS WHERE WE ARE NOW:
Under current law, 83 percent of scheduled benefits are projected to be payable on a timely basis in 2035 after depletion of the combined trust fund reserves, with the percentage payable declining to 73 percent for 2098.
[ME] THIS WOULD BE AFTER THE ENACTMENT OF THESE 17 PROPOSALS: Under the proposal, the OASDI program would be solvent throughout the 75-year projection period, and would have the ability to pay 100 percent of scheduled benefits on a timely basis for the foreseeable future.
https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/solvency/HoyerPrimus_20250103.pdf
I just want to see what you think of some or all of these proposals.
1. Increase the OASDI taxable maximum earnings level by 6 percent faster than current law beginning in 2027, until the taxable ratio reaches 90 percent of covered earnings. Maintain a 90 percent taxable ratio thereafter.
2. Increase the OASDI payroll tax rate from 12.4 percent to 12.6 percent, beginning in 2027.
3. Beginning in 2027, make all distributions to all pass-through business owners up to the earnings cap subject to the SECA tax, provided those owners meet the material participation standard. This provision would ensure that all workers who materially participate in a business are subject to payroll taxes on their earnings. The earnings cap would equal the taxable maximum in that year.
4. Place all proceeds from taxation of Social Security benefits, including retrospective benefits, into the OASI and DI Trust Funds beginning on January 1, 2027. The HI Trust Fund would be held harmless using other sources of revenue.
5. Change immigration policies: (1) add immigration pathways for direct care workers; (2) provide general increases in temporary and permanent immigration caps; (3) implement key provisions of the Dignity Act of 2023.
6. Cover all newly hired state and local government employees, beginning in 2032.
7. Apply Federal income tax to all Social Security benefits for all beneficiaries with incomes above $100,000 for individual filers and $125,000 for joint filers, effective in 2027. These thresholds increase by CPI for years after 2027.
8. Increase the number of benefit computation years from 35 to 36, starting for individuals becoming newly eligible or dying at age 62 or older in 2032. Thereafter, increase computation years by 1 every 2 years with an ultimate change to 40 computation years for those becoming newly eligible in 2040 and later. Disabled workers would be held harmless.
9. End child benefits for children of retirees and the associated caregiver (father or mother) benefit prospectively beginning in January 2027. The benefit would continue for disabled children, adopted children, and grandchildren.
10. Increase the normal retirement age (NRA) for the top 40 percent of the all-career average earnings distribution. Only the top 20 percent of the earnings distribution would realize an increase in the retirement age to 70, phased in starting in 2036 by two months each year between 2037 and 2054 to age 70. The top 40 percent of the earnings distribution would be defined on the basis of each individual’s highest 40 years of indexed total earnings
11. Reduce the dependent spouse benefit by 5 percentage points per year beginning on January 1, 2027, so that it is completely eliminated by 2036. In addition, completely eliminate the dependent spouse benefit on January 1, 2030 for any dependent spouse of a spouse in the top quartile of career average earnings (AIME).
12. Replace the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset with a revised reduction for most OASDI benefits based upon all earnings (both covered and non-covered earnings) beginning with beneficiaries newly eligible in 2027. No reductions from WEP or GPO would apply to workers with fewer than ten years of non-covered work.
[ME] The savings from this proposal (#12) being; (from the link) - We estimate that enactment of this provision alone would reduce the long-range OASDI actuarial deficit by 0.05 percent of taxable payroll and would reduce the annual deficit for the 75th projection year (2098) by 0.07 percent of payroll
[ME] NOTE: this one was proposed before the Social Security Fairness Act became law and REPEALED the WEP/GPO completely ( Ugh - should have gone with this proposal because the ACT did not add any money to the Trust Fund for the repeal of the WEP/GPO - so we will have to make up any savings under this proposal (#12) somewhere else + whatever damage the Repeal of the WEP/GPO adds to the insolvency of the Trust Fund - that is unknown presently.
13. Restore the student benefit to all child dependents of disabled or deceased parents and extend the benefit to legitimate training or trade schools. This benefit would be available through age 25 and apply to all children, regardless of marital status, effective January 1, 2027, and would be prorated for less than full-time school attendance.
14. Establish an alternative benefit for surviving spouses, effective in 2027. For the surviving spouse, the alternative benefit would equal 75 percent of the sum of the survivor's own worker benefit and the deceased worker's PIA (including any actuarial reductions or delayed retirement credits).
15. Establish an Early Retirement Disability (ERD) benefit at age 58 for workers who do not qualify for DI but meet most current DI criteria. The ERD benefit would be the average of the retirement benefit the worker would be eligible for at the NRA and the earliest eligibility age (EEA) for workers who apply at age 58. Workers applying at age 59 would receive the average of the NRA and age 59 benefit and similarly for any age up to the NRA.
16. Provide benefits for children who are in the custody of a grandparent or other eligible relative for at least 12 months and are receiving at least one-half of their financial support from the relative. Effective for all eligible children with benefit entitlement beginning on January 1, 2027.
17. Eliminate the requirement that a disabled adult child (DAC) beneficiary be unmarried for starting or restoring receipt of benefits and remove marriage as a terminating event for existing DAC beneficiaries, effective in 2027.
.jpg?crop=true&anchor=13,195&q=80&color=ffffffff&u=lywnjt&w=2008&h=1154)
)
