ABQ Councilor Gomez to Introduce Memorial Against Social Security Privatization

From NM PACE, Re-Visioning New Mexico:

Hola Everyone!

On Monday, April 18th Albuquerque Councilman Miguel Gomez is going to introduce a memorial to reject plans to privatize Social Security benefits.  See below for a copy of the memorial.  If you are opposed to privatizing Social Security then please call your City Councilor and ask that they support the memorial and Councilman Gomez's efforts.  Also, please call Brad Winters, President of the City Council and ask him to put the Memorial first on the Agenda for the Monday night meeting.  The City Council phone number is 768-3100. (Click to find your .)

You are also invited to come to the Re-Visioning office on Friday April 15th to make signs, learn more about the memorial, and have an informal discussion about Social Security.

Should you have any questions, please call Re-Visioning New Mexico Reyna at 505-255-4266.  Feel free to tell your City Councilors to also call Re-Visioning New Mexico if they have questions about the memorial.

Reyna Luz
reyna@nmpace.org
255-4266
1-888-625-8888
Re-Visioning New Mexico
New Mexico Progressive Alliance for Community Empowerment

Click to the continuation page for a copy of the bill:

SIXTEENTH COUNCIL

COUNCIL BILL NO.                                 ENACTMENT NO.   ________________________

SPONSORED BY:

MEMORIAL
URGING THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES TO REJECT PLANS TO PRIVATIZE SOCIAL SECURITY BY CUTTING SOCIAL SECURITY'S GUARANTEED BENEFITS AND DIVERTING MONEY OUT OF SOCIAL SECURITY INTO PRIVATE INVESTMENT ACCOUNTS.

WHEREAS, Social Security's income protections-guaranteed lifelong benefits, cost-of-living adjustments to guard against inflation, increased benefits for families, greater income replacement for low-income workers, and disability and survivor benefits-are the backbone of retirement security and family protection in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Social Security provides crucial, often indispensable income protection for the 47 million individuals-one of every six Americans-receiving benefits; and

WHEREAS, approximately 87,000 Bernalillo County residents receive Social Security benefits that total in excess of $70 million monthly; and

WHEREAS, Social Security is the nation's most successful and most important family income protection program, but it has long-term funding needs we should address; and

WHEREAS, some policy makers propose to address these needs by cutting guaranteed benefits and privatizing Social Security, that is, diverting two-thirds or more of workers' payroll tax contributions out of the Social Security Trust Fund and into private investment accounts; and
    WHEREAS, privatization will worsen Social Security's funding by draining resources from the Trust Fund into private accounts, increasing the federal deficit by $4.9 trillion and putting us in deeper debt to foreign creditors; and

WHEREAS, some officials and members of Congress have suggested the federal government will not pay back the money it has borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund over the past 20 years, thereby denying working families the money they paid into Social Security and leading to further benefit cuts; and

WHEREAS, privatizing Social Security will cut guaranteed benefits by 46 percent for young workers, even for those who do not participate in private accounts, costing them $152,000 over their retirements, denying them benefits they have earned and imperiling their economic security; and

WHEREAS, cutting guaranteed benefits will hurt the elderly because Social Security provides at least half the income for nearly two-thirds of older Americans and lifts more than 11 million seniors out of poverty; and

WHEREAS, cutting guaranteed benefits will particularly hurt women and people of color, as they are especially likely to rely on Social Security for most of their retirement income and are less likely than average to receive job-based pensions in retirement; and

WHEREAS, diverting resources from Social security to fund private accounts will threaten guaranteed survivor and disability benefits, thus harming working families, particularly African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, as roughly one in five workers dies before retiring and nearly three in ten become too disabled to work before reaching retirement age; and

WHEREAS, Congress should not rush through drastic and damaging changes in Social Security that undermine its family income protections but instead should take the time necessary to develop careful and thoughtful reforms that address Social Security's funding needs without slashing benefits or exploding the deficit.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE that:

Section 1.  Congress should first commit to repaying all the money borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund, so that Americans can be paid the Social Security benefits they have paid for.

Section 2.  Congress should carefully consider prudent changes that will strengthen Social Security's finances, to ensure the program continues to meet its purpose of providing income protection and economic security for America's families; and

Section 3.  Any changes adopted by Congress must strengthen Social Security's family income protections without significantly reducing guaranteed benefits or increasing the budget deficit.

Section 4.  Congress should reject any proposal that diverts money out of Social Security to fund private accounts.