Ricketts touts Social Security, declines to endorse solvency ideas

Nebraska U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts said Wednesday he's working to protect Social Security, but added he’s not ready to comment on potential solutions for keeping the system solvent.

In a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Ricketts touted what he said were improvements to Social Security. He said Social Security benefits had been untaxed from 1935 to 1983, when 50% of them were subject to taxation. He said that increased to 85% in 1993. But he said the budget and tax bill Congress passed in July would eliminate taxation on Social Security for 88% of seniors – up to 265,000 people in Nebraska. And he said he’s introduced legislation to phase out federal income taxes on Social Security benefits entirely.

The Social Security trustees reported in June the system’s old age and survivors trust fund would run out of reserves in 2034. Social Security’s chief actuary wrote that the budget and tax bill passed in July, which Ricketts supported, speeds that up to 2032.

Various ideas have been suggested to keep the system solvent, including changing how it accounts for inflation, raising the cap on earnings that are taxed, raising the tax rates, or raising the retirement age. Ricketts declined Wednesday to endorse those or any other proposals.

“There’s a number of solutions that are being floated around from both Republicans and Democrats, and there is, I would say, no consensus around which approach to take, and until there is a package that is going to address it, I don't really have any direction to give you with regard to what might pop up in the future. So we're going to have to tackle this at some point down the road, but I can't tell you… which way it's going to go,” he said.

Ricketts also praised what he said were improvements in Social Security’s customer service. He said all field offices are fully staffed, federal workers are back in the office five days a week, and for the first time, Americans have 24/7 access to online accounts. He also said the system has cut its phone “on hold” times from 30 minutes to just six minutes, and average wait times at field offices have declined by 23% despite handling five times more appointments than last year. And he said his caseworkers in Nebraska report that fewer Nebraskans are asking for help navigating Social Security issues.