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| Rep. Adrian Smith |
Over the past few months, the House has been working through the appropriations process to determine how budgeted dollars will be spent in the next fiscal year. We have now successfully shifted the conversation in Washington from how much to spend to how much to cut. These decisions certainly are not easy, but there is an immense amount of work to do to bring our country'’s deficit under control. It is crucial we seize the unique opportunities before us to cut spending and implement lasting fiscal reforms.
This year, the House and Senate passed the first joint 10-year balanced budget resolution since 2001. The budget cuts more than $5 trillion in spending and balances the books in less than 10 years without raising taxes. It also includes a provision to find even more savings through a legislative process called reconciliation.
Created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the reconciliation process requires designated committees to find a certain amount of savings within their jurisdictions by a specified date. Once the committees submit their recommended spending cuts, the Budget Committee produces one reconciliation bill for a vote. This bill cannot be filibustered in the Senate and only needs 51 votes to pass rather than the usual 60. Overall, reconciliation is designed to force both parties to come to the table and make meaningful fiscal reforms.
The House Ways and Means Committee, on which I serve, is one of the three committees tasked with finding a total of $3 billion in savings –– $1 billion per committee. We will be working throughout this month to find spending cuts as directed by the budget resolution.
Reconciliation is an important legislative tool, but we must also pursue entitlement reform to ensure our budgeting is sustainable long-term. Without reform, the Social Security Trust Fund will continue toward insolvency. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which pays out funds to those who have been disabled and can no longer work, is in dire straits and without major reforms will go bankrupt in 2016. If the SSDI fund runs out of money, nearly 11 million Americans will see a 20 percent reduction in benefits.
This week, we held a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on restoring solvency to SSDI and making sure beneficiaries who want to or are able to return to work can do so. In the hearing, I shared concerns I have heard from constituents who find the program'’s work incentives difficult to understand and who have unexpectedly had their benefits turned off because they crossed an earnings threshold without realizing it. We must heed the coming cliff for SSDI as our call to bring real reform which ensures current and near-future beneficiaries are impacted as little as possible and makes the programs solvent and available for those who need them for years to come.
While we continue to pursue legislative solutions, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee are also calling on individuals, businesses, and organizations to share their perspective about how best to fix the SSDI fund. Comments and suggestions can be sent as a PDF attachment to ImproveDI@mail.house.gov .
Despite the many fiscal challenges we face, I am optimistic about Congress’'s commitment to strengthening our country through fiscal reforms. I will continue working to cut spending, balance the budget, and restore solvency to Social Security to protect hardworking Nebraskans
Created by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the reconciliation process requires designated committees to find a certain amount of savings within their jurisdictions by a specified date. Once the committees submit their recommended spending cuts, the Budget Committee produces one reconciliation bill for a vote. This bill cannot be filibustered in the Senate and only needs 51 votes to pass rather than the usual 60. Overall, reconciliation is designed to force both parties to come to the table and make meaningful fiscal reforms.
The House Ways and Means Committee, on which I serve, is one of the three committees tasked with finding a total of $3 billion in savings –– $1 billion per committee. We will be working throughout this month to find spending cuts as directed by the budget resolution.
Reconciliation is an important legislative tool, but we must also pursue entitlement reform to ensure our budgeting is sustainable long-term. Without reform, the Social Security Trust Fund will continue toward insolvency. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which pays out funds to those who have been disabled and can no longer work, is in dire straits and without major reforms will go bankrupt in 2016. If the SSDI fund runs out of money, nearly 11 million Americans will see a 20 percent reduction in benefits.
This week, we held a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on restoring solvency to SSDI and making sure beneficiaries who want to or are able to return to work can do so. In the hearing, I shared concerns I have heard from constituents who find the program'’s work incentives difficult to understand and who have unexpectedly had their benefits turned off because they crossed an earnings threshold without realizing it. We must heed the coming cliff for SSDI as our call to bring real reform which ensures current and near-future beneficiaries are impacted as little as possible and makes the programs solvent and available for those who need them for years to come.
While we continue to pursue legislative solutions, the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee are also calling on individuals, businesses, and organizations to share their perspective about how best to fix the SSDI fund. Comments and suggestions can be sent as a PDF attachment to ImproveDI@mail.house.gov .
Despite the many fiscal challenges we face, I am optimistic about Congress’'s commitment to strengthening our country through fiscal reforms. I will continue working to cut spending, balance the budget, and restore solvency to Social Security to protect hardworking Nebraskans
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