SECOND REGULAR SESSION

House Concurrent Resolution No. 24

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES COLONA (Sponsor) AND HODGES (Co-sponsor).

5100L.01I

            WHEREAS, the nation's nearly 63 million Social Security recipients will get a 1.5% cost of living increase in 2014, slightly less than the 1.7% cost of living increase in 2013; and

            WHEREAS, the Social Security tax cap is the maximum amount of income subject to Social Security tax. The Social Security tax cap is adjusted each year to account for inflation; and

            WHEREAS, the maximum amount of a worker's pay subject to the Social Security tax, which is linked to an increase in average wages, will increase by 2.9% from $113,700 to $117,000; and

            WHEREAS, the Social Security tax rate is 12.4%, with 6.2% paid by the employee and 6.2% by the employer; and

            WHEREAS, according to the Social Security Trustees, the Social Security Trust Fund will be able to pay full benefits until 2033, and incoming payroll taxes will be sufficient to pay about 75% of benefits thereafter; and

            WHEREAS, under current law, Social Security contributions and benefits are based on earnings that fall below an annual cap, which is $117,000 in 2014. In 1983, the cap was set at a level that covered about 90% of all earnings paid in covered employment. The assumption was that as the cap rose with inflation, the Social Security tax would continue to cover 90% of all such earnings; and

            WHEREAS, currently, however, only about 84% of such earnings are subject to the Social Security payroll tax; and

            WHEREAS, restoring the tax cap to a level that would again cover 90% of earnings - a cap of $180,000 - would reduce Social Security's long-term deficit over its 75 year solvency period by nearly 25%; and

            WHEREAS, removing the cap completely would erase virtually all (86%) of Social Security's funding gap over the next 75 years; and

            WHEREAS, eliminating the cap on earnings would call on top earners to contribute more toward the basic economic security of the nation's elderly and families, commensurate with their ability to pay; and

            WHEREAS, eliminating the cap on earnings would eliminate the regressive nature of the Social Security tax by requiring all workers and employers to pay the same 6.2% rate on all earnings, the same rate as workers making less than $117,000 already pay; and

            WHEREAS, by calling on top earners to contribute to Social Security in line with their ability to pay, the Social Security system is protected and maintained for all Americans:

            NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-seventh General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby strongly urge the United States Congress to end the regressive nature of Social Security taxation by increasing or eliminating the cap on earnings in order to improve fairness and balance Social Security's finances for the long term; and

            BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for the Majority and Minority leaders of United States House of Representatives and United States Senate, and each member of the Missouri Congressional delegation.

•