Bipartisan Momentum Grows for Updating SSI’s Asset Limits

Historic Bipartisan Momentum for Updating SSI’s Antiquated Asset Limits

Signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1972, Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, provides monthly cash assistance to people with significant disabilities or who are 65 or older and who have very little in income and assets – including more than 1 million disabled children. The income support that SSI provides is nothing short of critical for the roughly 8 million disabled and older Americans currently receiving benefits. But due to decades of federal neglect, SSI’s income protections have withered over time — and the program now consigns millions of disabled people and older adults to deep and enduring poverty, despite the fact that it was enacted to give them a lifeline out of it.

One of SSI’s most outdated rules is its asset limits, which have remained stuck at $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples since Congress last adjusted them for inflation in 1984. These levels have lost nearly all of their value in the nearly four decades since they were last adjusted; had they been indexed to inflation when SSI was initially signed into law in 1972, for example, they would be more than $10,000 and $16,000, respectively, today. Now, more than fifty years after the SSI program’s founding, bipartisan policymakers and stakeholders are working to reform its antiquated asset limits, in recognition that they have become one of the most regressive anti-savings measures in federal law.

This resource page contains information and resources on current legislation being debated in Congress to update SSI’s asset limits, as well as a range of related resources from bipartisan experts and cross-sector stakeholders for Academy members, partners, and others seeking to learn more about this issue. For more information, contact Rebecca Vallas rvallas@nasi.org.

Bipartisan legislation would update SSI’s asset limits

Bipartisan legislation led by Senators Sherrod Brown (D–OH) and Bill Cassidy (R–LA), and Representatives Brian Higgins (D–NY), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R–PA)—the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act—would update SSI’s asset limits to $10,000 for an individual and $20,000 for a couple, to ensure the program’s beneficiaries are able to build modest savings without losing survival income and health insurance. The legislation would also remedy Congress’s original error, by indexing the limits to the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W), to ensure they keep pace with inflation moving forward.

Learn more:

• S. 2767: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2767
• H.R. 5408: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/5408
• Senate Finance Committee press release:https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-brown-cassidy-announce-first-bipartisan-bicameral-bill-in-decades-to-update-supplemental-security-income-program
• Sen. Brown press release: https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-cassidy-announce-first-bipartisan-bicameral-bill-in-decades-to-update-supplemental-security-income-program
• Sen. Cassidy press release: https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-brown-announce-first-update-to-social-security-income-program-for-disabled-elderly-americans-since-1980s

Who supports updating SSI’s asset limits?

Updating SSI’s asset limits has the support of economic policy experts across the political spectrum, as well as disability advocates, advocates for older adults, antipoverty advocates, social service providers, faith groups, corporate leaders, and a broad array of stakeholders. The CEOs of eight of the nation’s largest banks voiced their support for updating SSI’s asset limits in a recent hearing convened by the Senate Banking Committee. And it’s supported by more than 7 in 10 Americans, with widespread support across party lines.

Here’s what policy experts and stakeholders are saying:

• Policymakers Should Update SSI’s Harsh Asset Limits (CBPP):
  https://t.co/krOjml91vV
• Ease SSI’s Asset Limits (AARP) https://blog.aarp.org/fighting-for-you/bill-ssi-savings-penalty
• Top 5 Reasons SSI’s Asset Limits Are Long Overdue for an Upgrade (TCF): https://tcf.org/content/commentary/top-5-reasons-ssis-asset-limits-are-long-overdue-for-an-upgrade/
• POLLING: Large Majorities of Voters Across the Political Spectrum Support Updating SSI’s Asset Limits (The Century Foundation and Data for Progress) https://tcf.org/content/commentary/just-3-in-10-disabled-voters-believe-leaders-in-washington-d-c-care-about-people-with-disabilities-finds-new-tcf-and-data-for-progress-poll/
• Enhancing Economic Opportunity and Mobility for People with Disabilities Through Asset and Income Limit Reforms (JP Morgan Chase Policy Center): https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmc/jpmorgan-chase-and-co/documents/policy-center-asset-limit-issue-brief-ada.pdf
• Congress Should Give SSI Asset Limits a 21st Century Upgrade, by Kathleen Romig (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities), Rebecca Vallas (The Century Foundation), and Jason Fichtner (Bipartisan Policy Center): https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/3532554-congress-should-give-ssi-asset-limits-a-21st-century-upgrade/
• Raising SSI Asset Limits Raises Recipient Opportunity, by Will Raderman (Niskanen Center): https://www.niskanencenter.org/raising-ssi-asset-limits-raises-recipient-opportunity/
• Bipartisan Cooperation to End Poverty, by Andrew Biggs (American Enterprise Institute): https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbiggs/2022/06/10/bipartisan-cooperation-to-battle-poverty/
• Policymakers Should Increase SSI Asset Limits to Promote Equity and Economic Opportunity (CLASP): https://www.clasp.org/blog/lawmakers-should-increase-ssi-asset-limits-to-promote-equity-and-economic-opportunity/
• The Case for Updating SSI Asset Limits (CBPP): https://www.cbpp.org/research/social-security/the-case-for-updating-ssi-asset-limits
• How Dehumanizing Administrative Burdens Harm Disabled People (Center for American Progress): https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-dehumanizing-administrative-burdens-harm-disabled-people/
• Microsoft to Congress: Update SSI Asset Limits https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-cassidy-announce-first-bipartisan-bicameral-bill-in-decades-to-update-supplemental-security-income-program
• National Association of Evangelicals Tells Congress to Increase SSI Asset Limits https://www.nae.org/increase-the-asset-limit-for-ssi/
• Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Joined by Hundreds of Advocacy Organizations in Telling Congress to Update SSI Asset Limits (PDF)
• Bipartisan Policy Center, Niskanen Center and Cross-sector Stakeholders Tell Congress to Update SSI Asset Limits (PDF)
• Chamber of Commerce Tells Congress to Update SSI Asset Limits (PDF)
• Jewish Federations Tells Congress to Update SSI Asset Limits (PDF)
• Orthodox Union Tells Congress to Update SSI Asset Limits (PDF)
• US Conference of Catholic Bishops Tells Congress to Update SSI Asset Limits (PDF)
• Food Association Tells Congress to Update SSI Asset Limits (PDF)
• Nationwide Tells Congress to Update SSI Asset Limits (PDF)
• Society of Human Resource Management Tells Congress to Update SSI Asset Limits (PDF)

Who would be helped by updating SSI’s asset limits?

Here’s what SSI beneficiaries are saying:

• Emily shared why SSI asset limits need to be updated during a press conference about the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act.
• Steve shared why SSI is important to him.
• Lauren shared how SSI asset limits make it harder for her to live on her own and save like her peers.
• Steve shared how SSI asset limits have been a barrier to work and savings.