BILL REQ. #:  H-1423.1 

Read first time 02/09/2005.   Referred to Committee on Children & Family Services.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, President George W. Bush appointed a 16-member commission in 2001, with a mandate to ensure social security's long-range solvency by incorporating private investment accounts; and
     WHEREAS, The commission only included members who were known supporters of such private investment accounts, and did not include a single member of Congress or a representative from a labor, senior, disability, or other public interest group; and
     WHEREAS, Under the three plans recommended by the commission, it was clearly stated that guaranteed benefits would be reduced in direct relation to the amount of payroll contributions a worker diverts to an individual account; and
     WHEREAS, Two other onerous cutbacks were included in the three plans recommended by the commission: A provision to index benefits to inflation rather than wages, and one that would liken the formula for guaranteed benefits to life expectancy, requiring people to work longer in the future for the same benefits that today they would receive at a younger age; and
     WHEREAS, Citizens have available to them the use of private retirement accounts for retirement savings, such as 401(k)s and IRAs, which can and do provide an adequate supplement to social security; and
     WHEREAS, Any transition from our current system to privatization will require significant transition costs; and
     WHEREAS, Social Security payroll contributions guarantee benefits by the "full faith and credit" of the federal government; and
     WHEREAS, Private accounts cannot provide the same level of security as our current Social Security system;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists oppose diverting Social Security payroll contributions in order to fund retirement investment accounts; oppose any effort to cut benefits or increase eligibility thresholds; oppose any effort to use trust fund surpluses for any tax cut; support examining increases in employers' tax rates and raising the payroll tax earning cap as acceptable methods for providing a guaranteed living income and insuring the long-term financial viability of Social Security; and oppose all efforts to privatize Social Security in any manner.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.