HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 71

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005

INTRODUCED BY

Ben Lujan

A JOINT MEMORIAL

URGING THE NEW MEXICO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO OPPOSE ANY PROPOSALS BY THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION TO DISMANTLE SOCIAL SECURITY BY PRIVATIZING THE PROGRAM.

     WHEREAS, President George W. Bush is making the overhaul of the social security system a priority; and

     WHEREAS, when social security was first enacted in 1935, almost one-half of America's senior citizens lived in poverty, and today that number is down to just over ten percent; and

     WHEREAS, reports show that nearly one-half of Americans over sixty-five would be living in poverty without social security; and

     WHEREAS, the percentage of Hispanic seniors living in poverty today is forty-four percent, twice that of non-Hispanic seniors, and Hispanic seniors, especially Hispanic women over sixty-five years of age, are much less likely to derive income from pensions, interest, dividends, savings or other sources and over one-half of these women depend on social security as their sole source of income; and

     WHEREAS, in New Mexico, approximately two hundred eighty thousand men, women and children depend on social security benefits and, without social security, one hundred nine thousand New Mexico seniors would be living in poverty; and

     WHEREAS, approximately one in six New Mexicans, two hundred ninety-five thousand people, receive social security benefits, either as a retiree, a disabled worker, a widow or a child; and

     WHEREAS, almost one-third of those beneficiaries are under the age of sixty-five, more than thirty thousand are widows and twenty-eight thousand are children; and

     WHEREAS, under the administration's proposal, there is no identified plan for addressing the needs of widows and children; and

     WHEREAS, many economists question whether the social security system is in actual trouble, since there are sufficient funds to cover social security commitments until the middle of the twenty-first century and minor, non-privatization adjustments could protect the program well beyond that time; and

     WHEREAS, social security is the nation's most successful and most important family income protection program; and

     WHEREAS, the basic idea behind the administration's plan to reform social security is to let Americans divert part of their payroll taxes to personal investment accounts, but the administration has yet to specify how it proposes to pay for the reform plan, by how much retirement benefits would be reduced or the logic of borrowing trillions of dollars to offset tax revenues diverted into private accounts in order to pay retiree benefits; and

     WHEREAS, there is nothing to prevent young Americans from investing prudently to provide additional sources for retirement income and, in fact, are encouraged to do so through various employer-sponsored tax-deferred programs; and

     WHEREAS, there are many more pressing issues facing the country today and in the very near future that need to be addressed by congress and the current administration; and

     WHEREAS, the current federal budget deficit is a much greater and more immediate threat to the federal budget than social security;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation be urged to recognize the unique features of the social security program, including guaranteed benefits; protection from market fluctuations; inflation indexing; lifelong protection in case of disability or death of a spouse or parent; progressive benefits linked to earnings; and retention of value; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation be urged to oppose privatizing the social security program, which would reduce guaranteed benefits, and instead to make minor adjustments that will supplement this proven, longstanding, family income protection program; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to enter this memorial into the congressional record; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the members of New Mexico's congressional delegation, the president of the United States and the chief clerks of the United States house of representatives and United States senate.

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