NADR LEGISLATIVE TRIP SUMMARY

NADR’s legislative team met with key congressional staff on House and Senate Appropriations, House Ways & Means and Senate Finance CoHYin May. Here are some key take-aways from those conversation:

There will be intense competition among federal departments and agencies for a share of the shrinking pie of dollars available for FY 2024.

Recently enacted legislation to lift the debt ceiling until after the 2024 elections included reducing appropriations levels for non-defense discretionary spending to below FY 2023 levels. While the Senate plans to produce spending bills consistent with that agreement, the House has determined to write spending bills that would limit non-defense discretionary spending to FY 2022 levels - a considerably larger cut. In our discussions with appropriations staff, all acknowledged that there will be intense competition for FY 2024 appropriations, they stressed that, rather than across-the-board cuts, department and agency funding will be determined based on the priorities of Appropriations Committee Members, and the Labor/HHS Subcommittee in particular for SSA’s administrative budget. They urged NADR members to reach out to their Members of Congress to educate them about the need to fully fund the President’s budget request for SSA in order to avoid further service degradation. They noted that Members are aware of service issues at SSA, in part due to advocacy efforts the led to an increase in SSA funding for FY 2023.

It is highly unlikely that House and Senate will reach agreement on the FY 2024 spending bills before the start of the 2024 fiscal year on October 1. While a short-term continuing resolution would keep the federal government funded beyond October 1, it is unclear whether even such a stop-gap measure could pass both Houses and be signed by the President. Several Appropriations Committee Members have warned that a government shutdown is a real possibility this Fall.

Improving SSA service delivery will be a priority focus of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways & Means Social Security Subcommittees

We expect Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) to reintroduce this summer bipartisan legislation with Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) to remove a significant disincentive to attempting to work for disabled adult children who receive SSDI benefits based on their parent’s work history. NADR has endorsed this bill, which would assure that all individuals with severe medical conditions that began before age 22 the same - no matter when their parents claim Social Security benefits. Once introduced, we will issue a call to action for NADR Members to urge their Senators to cosponsor the bill.

The Finance Committee also is interested in updating SSI to remove penalties for saving even a modest amount of money for emergencies. Currently, SSI recipients will lose their benefits if their assets exceed $2,000. A married couple is limited to $3,000. Those limits were set in 1989 and have not been increased since. We expect a bipartisan group of Senators to reintroduce a proposal this year that would increase the asset limit to $10,000 for individuals and $20,000 for a married couple. NADR supports this proposal to remove a huge disincentive that prevents SSI recipients from saving for unforeseen emergencies.

The House Ways & Means Social Security Subcommittee is looking at what approaches to delivering service that were established during COVID should be continued. Items we encouraged them to look at include the use of e-signatures, access to more sections of the e-file earlier in the adjudication process and streamlining the process for getting recognized as a representative. Subcommittee staff acknowledged that IT modernization is needed, but noted that policies need to be updated as well. They said that improving outcomes for constituents is a priority for Subcommittee members.

Senators and Representatives are hearing from their constituents who cannot access the Social Security benefits they have earned.

It was clear in all of our meetings that Social Security service delivery is impacting constituents across the country and Members of Congress are taking notice. NADR will continue to work with the membership to increase awareness among elected officials of the need to address both funding and policy issues to make the process of applying for and receiving Social Security benefits more accessible to Americans nationwide.

Jeanne L. Morin

Pronouns: she, her, hers Public Policy Advisors