press release issued July 14th
Source: https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=A6E7C135-69BA-4775-83D9-353B4F9E5339
Washington D.C. – Today, Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Senate HELP Committee, Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, Bob Casey (D-PA), Ranking Member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA), Ranking Member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, and Richard Neal (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Committee, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin urging him to maintain and promote as planned the myRA program. The myRA program is a starter retirement savings account for individuals who are otherwise unable to save for retirement because they are not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan and/or they do not have enough savings to meet the minimum balance required to open a private-sector individual retirement account (IRA).
Democrats are concerned myRA is at risk following efforts by the Trump Administration to push Senate Republicans to thwart state and city-run retirement savings programs that would have benefited millions of people in Washington state and across the country.
“Given that this Administration has worked to reduce access to retirement plans for millions of Americans, it is more critical than ever for the Treasury to strengthen one of their remaining options for retirement savings,” wrote the members to Secretary Mnuchin.
Last December, it was reported that the Treasury Department would do more to highlight myRA on government websites, as well as promote it through TurboTax in an effort to bolster the program’s enrollees. Democrats are calling on Secretary Mnuchin to execute these plans swiftly.
“As you are no doubt aware, 55 million Americans lack access to a workplace retirement plan,” concluded the members. “We urge you to execute these plans swiftly and demonstrate that this Administration is committed to helping hardworking families save for retirement.”
Text of letter Sen. Murray sent:
Dear Secretary Mnuchin,
We write today to encourage the Treasury Department to demonstrate its commitment to the myRA program. As you are aware, myRA is a starter retirement savings account for individuals who are otherwise unable to save for retirement because they are not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan or they do not have enough savings to meet the minimum balance required to open a private-sector individual retirement account (IRA). Given that this Administration has worked to reduce access to retirement plans for millions of Americans, it is more critical than ever for the Treasury to strengthen one of their remaining options for retirement savings.
Earlier this year, under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), Congress passed and President Trump signed into law the reversal of two rules promulgated by the Department of Labor in 2016. The rules were designed to provide certainty to states and certain political subdivisions regarding the establishment of retirement savings programs for private-sector workers who are not covered by employer-sponsored retirement plans. Last week the Department of Labor published these rule reversals in the Federal Register.[1] We strongly disagree with these actions given that the country is in the midst of a retirement crisis. As you are no doubt aware, 55 million Americans lack access to a workplace retirement plan.[2] Moreover, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that almost half of all households with Americans age 55 and older have no retirement savings.[3]
Last December, it was reported that “[t]he Treasury Department said it will do more next year to highlight myRA on government websites, as well as promote it through TurboTax” in an effort to bolster the program’s enrollees.[4] We urge you to execute these plans swiftly and demonstrate that this Administration is committed to helping hardworking families save for retirement.
During Senate Hearing, Sen. Murray Secures Funding Commitment From Transportation Secretary Chao on Critical Puget Sound Transportation Project
press release issued July 14th
https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ContentRecord_id=04BB2891-99F4-4BB3-97F5-D28D5233D072
Washington, D.C.) – Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, pushed U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao during a July 13 Senate hearing on federal funding for the Lynnwood Link Extension and secured a commitment from the Secretary that federal funds previously appropriated by Congress for the project will be disbursed. This multi-year transit project, a priority that would ease congestion in Puget Sound and boost the regional economy, is partially funded by the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program, the primary federal grant program that supports major public transit capital investments in Washington state and nationwide. Congress approved $100 million in funding for the Lynnwood Link Extension in last year’s budget, but President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget request slashes the CIG program by $1.18 billion and would only fund projects which already have signed grant agreements with the federal government. Five projects in Washington state, including the Lynnwood Link Extension, could be negatively impacted by cuts to the CIG program, and Sen. Murray pressed Secretary Chao on whether funding for the project that was appropriated by Congress in the Fiscal Year 2017 budget would still be awarded to the Lynnwood Link Extension upon submission of their final proposal, prompting Secretary Chao to commit to following Congress’ directive to fund the project.
Sen. Murray’s questions follow several efforts to raise the importance of CIG funding for transportation projects in Washington state with the Trump Administration, including an April 6 letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee urging the inclusion of $2.3 billion for CIG in the FY18 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, written questions on CIG submitted for the record to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on May 25, and a June 8 letter to Director Mulvaney on CIG, as the Trump Administration’s rationale for eliminating funding for transit projects was increasing support at the local level through ballot initiatives and specifically calling out Seattle, Los Angeles, and Denver.
Short and Blase: “The fundamental error in the CBO’s health-care projections”
Shared on the White House webpage an op ed in the Washington Post
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/07/15/short-and-blase-fundamental-error-cbos-health-care-projections
By Marc Short and Brian Blase, Washington Post, July 15, 2017
“The American people — and their representatives in Washington — deserve the most accurate assessment possible of the effects of critical health-care legislation. Although the CBO generally plays a valuable role in the legislative process, as Obamacare’s ongoing failure clearly demonstrates, the CBO’s health-care model is fundamentally flawed.”
In the coming days, the Congressional Budget Office will release an updated analysis of the Senate bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. The CBO will likely predict lower health insurance coverage rates if the bill becomes law. The American people and Congress should give this prediction little weight in assessing the bill’s merit.
The reason: The CBO’s methodology, which favors mandates over choice and competition, is fundamentally flawed. As a result, its past predictions regarding health-care legislation have not borne much resemblance to reality. Its prediction about the Senate bill is unlikely to fare much better.
The forthcoming analysis of the Senate bill will likely contain additional projection errors. It will almost certainly assume that many additional states would expand Medicaid under Obamacare, even though other agencies, such as the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, have determined this is highly unlikely. An assumption that states will expand Medicaid means that the CBO will determine that millions of people will “lose” Medicaid coverage under the Senate bill — but these people were never enrolled in the first place.
The American people — and their representatives in Washington — deserve the most accurate assessment possible of the effects of critical health-care legislation. Although the CBO generally plays a valuable role in the legislative process, as Obamacare’s ongoing failure clearly demonstrates, the CBO’s health-care model is fundamentally flawed. The CBO’s failure to update the model means its forthcoming analysis of the Senate bill will be no better — and perhaps worse — than its disproven Obamacare projections. Although the media and the political left will certainly seize on it, the CBO’s estimates will be little more than fake news.
Read full article from WP
US TREASURY: Fact Sheet: Social Security And Medicare Trustees Report
7/13/2017 ---press release date
https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/sm0122.aspx
WASHINGTON - Today the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees issued their annual financial review of the programs.
The projections indicate that income is sufficient to pay full scheduled benefits until 2028 for Social Security's Disability Insurance program, until 2029 for Medicare's Hospital Insurance program, and until 2035 for Social Security's Old Age and Survivors Insurance program. The Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Fund remains adequately financed throughout the projection period, but only because SMI is financed, in part, by general revenues.
The Trustees project that Medicare costs will grow from approximately 3.6 percent of GDP in 2016 to 5.6 percent of GDP by 2041, and will increase gradually thereafter to about 5.9 percent of GDP by 2091. The costs of the Social Security program equaled 5 percent of GDP in 2016 and are expected to rise to 6.1 percent of GDP by 2037, decline to 5.9 percent of GDP by 2050, and then rise slowly to 6.1 percent of GDP by 2091.
Social Security
The Social Security program consists of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund. The Trustees project that the hypothetical combined Trust Funds will be depleted in 2034. The 75-year actuarial deficit for the combined trust funds is estimated at 2.83 percent of taxable payroll, up from 2.66 percent of taxable payroll estimated in last year's Report. This reflects a 0.05 percentage point worsening due to extending the projection period and valuation date one year, and a 0.12 percentage point worsening due to new data and improved projection methods.
While the projections for the combined Trust Funds are less favorable than last year, the near-term projections for the DI Trust Fund are more favorable. It is now projected that the DI will have sufficient funds to pay full scheduled benefits until 2028, five later than projected last year due to lower-than-expected recent applications for and awards of DI benefits.
Social Security's total income from taxes and interest is projected to exceed its total costs through 2021; however, cost is projected to exceed non-interest income throughout the projection period. This deficit will average approximately $51 billion between 2017 and 2020.
Medicare
Medicare has two Trust Funds: the Hospital Insurance (HI) Trust Fund and the Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Trust Fund. The Trustees project that the HI Trust Fund will be able to pay full scheduled benefits until 2029, a year later than projected in last year's report. After trust fund depletion in 2029, the share of scheduled benefits that can be paid from dedicated revenues is 88 percent for the remainder of 2029, declines slowly to 81 percent in 2041, and then rises gradually to 88 percent in 2091.
The 75-year actuarial deficit in the HI Trust Fund is projected at 0.64 percent of taxable payroll, down from 0.73 percent projected in last year's report. This improvement reflects a 0.01 percentage point worsening due to extending the projection period and valuation date one year, and a 0.10 percentage point improvement due to new data and changed assumptions.
The SMI Trust Fund, which includes Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D, remains adequately financed into the future due to financing being derived from general revenues and beneficiary premiums. The aging population and rising health care costs have driven the costs of the programs to rise steadily from 2.1 percent of GDP in 2016 to approximately 3.4 percent of GDP in 2037. Three quarters of these costs will be financed from general revenues, while the remaining will be financed from premiums paid by beneficiaries.
After the Reports are transmitted to Congress, the Social Security report will be posted at https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2017/index.html and the Medicare report will be posted at https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/ReportsTrustFunds/
(Related story on page 3)
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