AARP is urging Congress to reject a proposal that would create a fast-track process for developing and considering legislation aimed at strengthening Social Security’s long-term finances.
The Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone — PROMISE — Act, introduced July 14 by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Bill Cassidy, R-La., and six other senators, would direct the Social Security Advisory Board to draft legislation designed to keep trust funds solvent for at least 50 years.
While AARP agrees Congress must address Social Security’s finances, the organization argues lawmakers should do so through the traditional legislative process.
“We agree with you that Congress needs to act to address Social Security’s financial challenges and to strengthen Social Security for generations to come,” Nancy LeaMond, AARP’s chief advocacy and engagement officer, wrote in a July 21 letter to Durbin and Cassidy. “But how Congress acts matters.
“Strengthening Social Security should happen through regular order, in full public view, with openness and transparency — rather than through a process that limits the type of amendments and sets arbitrary procedural deadlines to short-circuit the debate.”
Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president for government affairs, said the organization believes Congress should write the legislation itself rather than assign the task to an advisory board.
“Our members and the public expect that Congress is going to do its job and deal with these hard issues, which we elected them and we’re paying them to deal with, not to outsource it to some other committee, some unelected group of people,” he said. “The time they’re spending creating special rules is time they could be spending fixing Social Security.”
How the bill would work
Under the PROMISE Act, the Social Security Advisory Board would be required to submit a proposal to Congress by Sept. 17, or the next day both chambers are in session. Congress could hold hearings and amend the proposal. However, if committees fail to act by Nov. 9, the legislation would automatically move to the House and Senate floors without the committee votes normally required, AARP said.
Total consideration of the measure — including debate and votes on amendments — would be capped at 100 hours.
Supporters say the process would force Congress to confront Social Security’s long-term financial challenges after years of delay.
“Here is our chance to agree on a bipartisan process to rescue Social Security this year,” Durbin stated. “Our bipartisan proposal opens Congress to debate this issue in a transparent, fair and bipartisan way. We were elected to solve problems—and there’s no greater problem than the solvency and future of Social Security.”
Why it matters
The proposal comes as Social Security faces a projected funding shortfall.
According to the 2026 Social Security Trustees Report, the program’s combined trust fund reserves are expected to be depleted in 2034. Without congressional action, ongoing payroll tax revenue would be sufficient to pay about 83% of scheduled benefits.
The PROMISE Act does not specify how Social Security’s finances should be strengthened.
Instead, it establishes a process for developing legislation. Any proposal produced by the advisory board would still require approval by the House, Senate and president before becoming law.
AARP has also opposed other congressional proposals that would create commissions to recommend changes to Social Security — maintaining that any reforms should be debated openly through the regular legislative process.
This article was written by Jonathan Delozier and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation.
