An important bill to update SSI rules that impede the ability of people with disabilities to work and get married needs a big push, and The ARC is making it easy and fast for all of us to act. (See below!)
Introduced in Congress’ 2021-2022 legislative session, the bipartisan effort called the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act, would:
- Raise SSI asset limits from $2,000 to $10,000 for individuals and from $3,000 to $20,000 for married couples. It would also adjust those numbers based on inflation every year;
- reduce marriage penalties related to SSI asset limits.
Adding to the urgency of making some noise is that the lead Republican sponsor of that bill, Rob Portman, retired at the beginning of the year.
Support Updates to SSI Now (The Arc Makes It Easy)
Just click this link, courtesy of The Arc, to send a prewritten email to your U.S. Senators to support the bipartisan SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act.
“Raising the SSI asset limit is one of the most important things we can do right now to improve financial security for disabled Americans,” Darcy Milburn, director, Social Security and Healthcare Policy at The ARC, told The Boost.” Current asset limits trap people in poverty; create barriers to work, savings, and having a bank account; and make financial independence virtually impossible.”
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Additionally, said Milburn, “raising the asset limit is an especially salient issue right now because it ties into two critical issues shaping our economy – inflation and workforce shortages. … Also, many individuals who receive SSI want to work and do in fact work. But the extremely low asset limit means some beneficiaries are prevented from taking on more hours, pursuing new opportunities, or saving money from paid work for fear that if they save over $2,000 they could be kicked off of SSI.”
