WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
and Rob Portman (R-OH) announced the introduction of the Savings
Penalty Elimination Act to update the asset limits for Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries, which would enable beneficiaries to have
more savings in case of an emergency without affecting their benefits. The
senators’ bill, the first significant bipartisan legislation in decades, would
bring the SSI program into the 21st Century and ensure disabled and elderly
Ohioans are able to live with dignity.
An often-forgotten part of America's Social Security system, SSI
is a federal program that provides vital income assistance to nearly 8 million
elderly and disabled Americans with low-incomes and limited resources,
including over 1 million disabled children. But due to decades of shameful
federal neglect, the program now consigns millions to deep and enduring
poverty, when it should instead offer a lifeline out of it.
“We
shouldn’t be punishing seniors and Ohioans with disabilities who do the right
thing and save money for emergencies by taking away the money they rely on to
live,”
said Brown. “SSI’s arbitrary and outdated rules make no sense. Our
bipartisan bill would update the old rules for the first time in decades and
allow beneficiaries to save for emergencies without putting the benefits they
rely on to live at risk.”
“Rising
costs and inflation is hurting all Americans, but especially our nation’s
seniors and those with disabilities. Yet the Supplemental Security Income
program that serves these vulnerable populations hasn’t been updated in decades
and punishes them for trying to save responsibly,” said Senator Portman.
“I am pleased to introduce this legislation with Senator Brown to update SSI’s
restrictive asset limits and better meet the needs of vulnerable seniors and
Ohioans with disabilities.”
JPMorgan Chase
& Co. recently
published
a study
that suggests that current asset and income limits on federal benefits for
people with disabilities create barriers to labor force participation and
accumulating savings. Per the study, updating asset limits for SSI, as the
senators’
Savings Penalty Elimination Act would do, would “expand
economic opportunity and mobility for people with disabilities.”
“JPMorgan Chase is
proudly a leading employer for people with disabilities, but outdated asset and
income limits on federal benefits for this community create barriers to
employment and career advancement, and restrict saving for education,
retirement or unexpected expenses for these families. Updating and
simplifying the asset and income limits for Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
will help expand economic opportunity and mobility for people with disabilities
while advancing a more inclusive workforce,” said Jim Sinocchi, Managing
Director, Office of Disability Inclusion, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The current SSI
program hasn’t been updated since the 1980s, and punishes these Americans for
working, saving for the future, and getting married. Right now,
individuals getting SSI are limited to $2,000 in assets; for married couples
it’s $3,000. The average current monthly benefit is $585 for individuals. For
approximately 60% of recipients, SSI is their only source of income.
“People with
disabilities across Ohio rely on SSI for access to Medicaid and to help them
pay their everyday expenses. But outdated SSI rules prevent people from
saving—trapping them in poverty. For the first time in decades, this bipartisan
legislation would make long-needed reforms to SSI and ensure that people with
disabilities can save more for emergencies and have a little bit more breathing
room,”
said Gary Tonks, President, CEO, The Arc of Ohio.
“SSI is nothing
short of a lifeline for nearly eight million of the nation’s poorest seniors
and disabled people. But because SSI has been left to wither on the vine for
nearly 40 years, woefully outdated program rules now consign older and disabled
beneficiaries to deep and enduring poverty, despite the fact that the program
was intended to provide a pathway out,” said Rebecca Vallas, a senior fellow at
The Century Foundation who leads the organization’s Disability Economic Justice
Team. “By updating SSI’s asset limits for inflation for the first time since
1989, this historic bipartisan legislation represents a major step forward for
SSI’s long-forgotten beneficiaries. Congress should act swiftly to pass this
important legislation so that disabled and older Americans are no longer barred
from saving and planning for the future.”
“It
is long-past time for Congress to once again update SSI’s asset limits, which
have become overly restrictive and prevent the accumulation of even modest
personal savings,”
said Bill Sweeney, Senior Vice President at AARP.
The
senators’ Savings Penalty Elimination Act would:
- Update the asset limits for SSI
beneficiaries, enabling them to have more savings in case of an emergency
without affecting their benefits.
- The bill will amend those caps,
which have not been changed since 1984, to $10,000 and $20,000,
respectively, and index them to inflation moving forward.
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