REMOVE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION FROM GENERAL BUDGET

WHEREAS, in 1990 Congress excluded Social Security trust funds from deficit estimates and calculations made under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings law; and

WHEREAS, the Office of management and Budget has taken the position that Social Security administrative costs are still included in deficit estimates and calculations and are subject to the spending caps established by the 1990 Budget Enforcement Act and are forced to compete with other domestic programs that are financed by general revenue funds; and

WHEREAS, underfunding and staff cuts of some 17,000 employees are causing serious problems in the delivery of Social Security benefits to our elderly and disabled citizens; and

WHEREAS, there are ample monies in the Social Security trust funds to finance improved Social Security staffing, training and service:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers support legislation that clearly removes Social Security administrative costs from federal budget constraints; and

RESOLVED, that AFT urge the Congress to provide adequate funding for the Social Security Administration to end the massive backlog of unprocessed disability claims that now exceed 800,000, to end the growing delays in processing initial claims and to improve the overall Social Security outreach program that has been seriously eroded by budget cuts.