Should the Life of Social Security be Extended and Benefits Expanded by Raising Taxes? (H.R. 1114)

What is H.R. 1114?

(Updated June 14, 2020)

This bill would amend title II of the Social Security Act -- which covers Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance -- in order to extend the life of the program by raising payroll taxes. The primary insurance amount would be increased for all eligible beneficiaries beginning in 2021, and the formula used to compute cost-of-living adjustments would be revised in order to use the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers. There would also be an increase in the special minimum primary insurance amount by basing it on years in the workforce, in order to assist those who earned a low income throughout their lifetime.

The following changes to the Internal Revenue Code would be made:

• Employment and self-employment taxes would be applied to income up to the contribution and benefit base, and to income in excess of $250,000. (Under current law, the maximum amount of annual income that can be subjected to the payroll tax that helps fund Social Security is $127,000 -- meaning that all income above that threshold is exempt from those taxes.)

• Increase the tax on investment gain from 3.8 percent to 10 percent of the lesser of net investment income for a taxable year, or the excess (if any) of the modified adjusted gross income for a taxable year over the threshold amount.

• Of this tax revenue, 62 percent would be allocated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund (OASI), while 9 percent would go towards the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund (DI).

Argument in favor

Extending Social Security’s solvency by increasing taxes on the wealthy is the fairest way to ensure that our country’s seniors can continue to rely on this program well into the future.

Argument opposed

There are better ways to reform Social Security to keep it solvent that don’t raise taxes, while also taking into account increased life expectancies.

Impact

Taxpayers and senior citizens, the Social Security Administration.

Cost of H.R. 1114

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: This bill’s sponsor, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), introduced this bill on the day that millionaires stop paying into Social Security because they hit the tax cap at $127,000 in annual income:

"Millions of Americans -- including hundreds of thousands of Oregonians -- depend on the earned benefit of Social Security as their livelihood, yet congressional Republicans continue to play games with its funding. This legislation will protect this vital program from future attempts to dismantle it while expanding benefits to better meet the needs of our nation's seniors." 

As he did in the last Congress, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced this legislation in the Senate. This version of the bill currently has the support of 25 cosponsors, all of whom are Democrats.

Of Note: Given current projections, the Social Security trust funds would not be able to meet all of their obligations in 2033 -- when obligations would exceed incoming tax revenue -- and it would only be able to pay out about three-quarters of scheduled benefits. In an analysis of this legislation, the actuaries for the Social Security trust funds estimated that this proposal would allow the provision of full Social Security benefits through 2060.

There have been several other proposals that address Social Security’s future insolvency without raising taxes. Some of which would raise the retirement age, while others would suspend ‘overlapping benefits’ that allow people collecting disability payments and unemployment benefits.

The retirement age is already being gradually raised from 65 to 67 years old for full Social Security benefits, but 70 is the age often being used in proposals as raising the retirement age to 70 could save nearly $35 billion. Given that life expectancy for those who reach age 65 has grown from 77.2 years in 1930 to 84.1 years in 2010 while the retirement age remained essentially constant, that may be a realistic option.

The main threat to Social Security’s long-term survival comes from the shrinking ratio of workers to beneficiaries -- as the number of people in the workforce paying taxes to fund the program has declined relative to the number of people receiving benefits. In 1960, there were 5.1 workers for every Social Security beneficiary, by 2009 that number had dropped to 3 workers, and it is expected to fall to 2.2 workers in 2030.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) Press Release
• Bustle
• The Hill
• Huffington Post
• Vermont Biz

Summary by Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: Public Domain)