WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today applauded news that the Social Security Trust fund will no longer be used to pay for an extension of the highway trust fund:

“Social Security should be sacrosanct – it shouldn’t be a slush fund for politicians to raid to pay for other priorities,” Brown said. “It’s critical that we pass a long-term transportation bill, but we shouldn’t do it at the expense of Americans who depend on Social Security. I’m glad we beat back this attempt to raid the Social Security Trust Fund, but we have more work ahead of us to expand Social Security and prevent attacks to undermine it.”

The initial highway bill extension included a Social Security offset to pay for an extension of the highway trust fund, restricting Old Age and Survivors Insurance, Social Security Supplemental Income (SSI) and SSDI in certain cases.

Brown is still concerned with many of the offsets in the highway bill, including a pay-for that would rescind millions in funds for communities hard hit by the housing crisis.

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