[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 19, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 INTRODUCTION OF SSI MODERNIZATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 19, 2005

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. Speaker, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) 
program provides benefits to nearly 7 million elderly and disabled 
individuals who have few, if any, other resources. While it serves as 
the primary Federal program that assists low-income elderly and 
disabled Americans, many of the components of the program have not been 
updated in decades.
  Since the inception of the program in 1972, the general income 
exclusion, which permits outside income to be added to the SSI benefit 
without penalty, has been set at $20. This income exclusion is 
generally applied to Social Security earnings, which are based on past 
employment. A second exclusion was also created to allow the first $65 
in monthly earnings to be disregarded from SSI benefits, plus one-half 
of the remaining earnings. Neither of these provisions, which reward 
past and current work, have been increased in 33 years. As a result, 
these income exclusions have lost more than 75 percent of their real 
value over time. If they had kept pace with inflation over the last 
three decades, the general exclusion would be worth $90 a month, rather 
than $20; and the earnings exclusion would be worth $295 a month, 
rather than $65.
  I am therefore pleased to introduce legislation today--along with 
Representative Jim McDermott, the Ranking Member of the Human Resources 
Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee which has jurisdiction 
over the SSI program--to reduce the disincentives for work, savings and 
education in the SSI program. The SSI Modernization Act would reward 
work by increasing the general income exclusion to $40 a month and the 
earned income exclusion to $130 a month, then index the amounts to 
inflation in future years. The bill would also increase the SSI asset 
limit from $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple to $3,000 
for an individual and $4,500 for a couple. Increasing the resource 
limits would provide an incentive for individuals to save for their 
future. Finally, the bill would encourage disabled children to complete 
high school by delaying the period in which they are required to go 
through a redetermination process to evaluate whether they remain SSI 
eligible under the adult program requirements. Because some disabled 
children may not be able to complete their secondary education before 
the age of 18, the legislation would delay a recipient's adult SSI 
redetermination if they are enrolled in secondary education and between 
the ages of 18 and 21.
  Mr. Speaker, the provisions in the SSI program have not been updated 
in decades. Updating the program by rewarding work, savings and 
education will help improve the lives of millions of our most 
vulnerable seniors and disabled Americans who depend on this program to 
survive. As the Social Security Commissioner declared last spring 
before our Human Resources Subcommittee of the Ways and Means 
Committee, SSI recipients are the ``poorest of the poor.'' Efforts to 
improve the quality of life for these individuals will go a long way to 
ensuring that they have a basic level of support. I urge my colleagues 
to support this legislation.

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