House Resolution 18 - Introduced
PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.
1 2 BY WINCKLER, WESSEL=KROESCHELL, D. OLSON, FORD,
1 3 WHITEAD, LYKAM, WHITAKER, BUKTA, PETTENGILL,
1 4 FALLON, SCHUELLER, R. OLSON, T. TAYLOR, HUSER,
1 5 DAVITT, SWAIM, LENSING, REICHERT, PETERSEN,
1 6 JACOBY, KRESSIG, FREVERT, COHOON, BELL, D. TAYLOR,
1 7 MILLER, FOEGE, SMITH, WENDT, HUNTER, BERRY,
1 8 JOCHUM, ZIRKELBACH, and HEDDENS
1 9 A Resolution urging the Iowa congressional delegation
1 10 to oppose restructuring the Social Security Trust Fund
1 11 to create private accounts that reduce guaranteed
1 12 benefits.
1 13 WHEREAS, the State of Iowa recognizes that
1 14 residents of all ages in this state receive guaranteed
1 15 social security benefits which allow them to live
1 16 without sinking into poverty or suffering from a
1 17 diminished quality of life because of retirement,
1 18 disability, or the death of a parent or spouse; and
1 19 WHEREAS, social security coverage protects
1 20 residents of Iowa by providing guaranteed benefits not
1 21 only for retirees, but also for disabled workers and
1 22 their families, as well as thousands of children; and
1 23 WHEREAS, social security is particularly critical
1 24 to the women who receive benefits since women
1 25 typically live longer, earn less money, and generally
1 26 spend less time in the labor force due to child care
1 27 responsibilities; and
1 28 WHEREAS, the social security program is a
1 29 progressive program that continues to pay guaranteed
1 30 benefits for the duration of the recipients'
2 1 lifetimes, that is indexed for inflation, that
2 2 functions with extreme efficiency, and that currently
2 3 operates with a surplus; and
2 4 WHEREAS, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget
2 5 Office predicts that there will be no shortfall until
2 6 2052, when the social security system will be able to
2 7 pay only 80 percent of recipients' benefits due to
2 8 insufficient revenue from payroll taxes; and
2 9 WHEREAS, in the past, the Social Security Trust
2 10 Fund has encountered similar challenges, including
2 11 larger projected shortfalls during the 1980s, which
2 12 were resolved without privatization schemes and
2 13 without reducing guaranteed benefits for the elderly,
2 14 disabled, and children; and
2 15 WHEREAS, the Bush administration's proposals to
2 16 partially privatize the social security system through
2 17 the creation of private accounts cannot guarantee
2 18 returns that equal or exceed recipients' guaranteed
2 19 benefits through the current social security system;
2 20 and
2 21 WHEREAS, the creation of such a private accounts
2 22 system would entail a massive cost to our country,
2 23 adding an estimated $2 trillion to our national
2 24 deficit which would take an estimated 60 years to pay
2 25 back; and
2 26 WHEREAS, future social security recipients would
2 27 also pay a much higher cost for private accounts than
2 28 for the guaranteed benefits current recipients receive
2 29 since the current system spends just 0.6 cents of
2 30 every dollar on administrative costs, while a private
3 1 accounts system would waste at least 5 cents of every
3 2 dollar; and
3 3 WHEREAS, under President Bush's proposal,
3 4 guaranteed social security protections to the elderly,
3 5 disabled, survivors, and children will gradually erode
3 6 for future generations, driving millions of Americans
3 7 into poverty and destroying the most successful social
3 8 insurance program ever created in the United States;
3 9 NOW THEREFORE,
3 10 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
3 11 That the members of the Iowa House of Representatives
3 12 hereby call upon the Iowa congressional delegation to
3 13 recognize the unique features of the current social
3 14 security system: guaranteed benefits; protection from
3 15 market fluctuations; inflation indexing; lifelong
3 16 protection in case of disability, death of a spouse or
3 17 parent, or insufficient retirement income; and
3 18 progressive benefits that are linked to earnings and
3 19 that cannot lose value over the recipient's lifetime;
3 20 and
3 21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Iowa House of
3 22 Representatives calls upon the Iowa congressional
3 23 delegation to oppose restructuring the Social Security
3 24 Trust Fund to create private accounts that reduce
3 25 guaranteed benefits for hundreds of thousands of
3 26 residents of our state, especially women and children
3 27 who will be disproportionately affected and who depend
3 28 on social security benefits for their survival and
3 29 well=being; and
3 30 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of the
4 1 Iowa House of Representatives is instructed to prepare
4 2 a properly inscribed copy of this resolution for
4 3 President George W. Bush, the members of Iowa's
4 4 congressional delegation, and Governor Thomas J.
4 5 Vilsack.
4 6 LSB 3247HH 81
4 7 jr:rj/gg/14
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