FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 1999
CONTACT:  Bill Black  202/225-2165
 

(Washington, DC) --  Rep. Collin C. Peterson (D-MN) held a joint press conference today to introduce legislation with Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX) that would repeal the Social Security earnings limit.  The bill, whose title HR 5 was reserved for this legislation by the Speaker of the House, would remove the Social Security earnings limit for seniors who continue working beyond age 65, allowing them to collect full benefits.

Currently, working seniors between the ages of  sixty-five and sixty-nine have one dollar of Social Security benefits withheld for every three dollars they earn above $15,500.  In his State of the Union address, President Clinton declared the removal of the earnings limit one of his priorities for the year.

"The set age of sixty-five makes sense for receiving Social Security benefits, but it should no longer be used as a deadline for pushing people who want to work out of their jobs," said Peterson.  "We have to end this practice of taking away money from people who want to earn a better income for themselves and their families and who enjoy work as a part of their lives."

The Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act received bipartisan support previously in the 105th Congress but did not make it to the House floor to be voted on.  Peterson is optimistic that the bill has a better chance of being heard this time because of the attention Congress and the President are giving to Social Security reform.

“Eliminating the earnings limit doesn’t add any extra cost to Social Security,” said Peterson, “because the benefits seniors will receive between the ages of sixty-five and sixty-nine would have been paid to them in additional benefits after age seventy.  Our bill simplifies the system and makes it fair to working seniors.”
 

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