Statement by Kilolo Kijakazi, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, on the President’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget
Reading Time: 3 MinutesLast Updated: March 9, 2023
The Biden-Harris Administration today released the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2024. The Budget details a blueprint to grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out, lower costs for families, protect and strengthen Medicare and Social Security, and reduce the deficit by ensuring the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share—all while ensuring no one making less than $400,000 per year pays more in taxes.
“Our programs affect individuals throughout their lives: from birth, to entering the workforce, to facing a disability or loss, and to retirement. The broad and critical nature of our programs drives our request for the resources necessary to improve our service to the public.”
The President’s FY 2024 Budget request for the Social Security Administration (SSA) proposes $15.5 billion in discretionary budget authority. The Budget will:
Improve Service Delivery: The Budget provides an increase of $1.4 billion, a 10-percent increase over our FY 2023 enacted level to improve customer service at our field offices, State disability determination services, and teleservice centers for retirees, people with disabilities, and their families while maintaining the integrity of our programs. Each year, we process more than 6 million retirement, survivors, and Medicare claims and more than 2 million disability and SSI claims. The Budget supports increased staffing levels from FY 2023, allowing us to process about a half million more disability cases in FY 2024 than we completed in FY 2022 and significantly reduce wait times for those decisions.
Advance Equity and Accessibility: We are one of the most important anti-poverty programs in the country. We remain committed to administering our programs in a way that promotes equity and fairness. We are making it easier for people to access the services they rely on, including individuals experiencing homelessness, children with disabilities, and people with mental and intellectual disabilities. The Budget makes investments in these areas to support SSI outreach work, including collaborating with government agencies and other third-party organizations in local communities to provide convenient access to our services and ensure members of the public are aware of their potential benefit eligibility.
We are also committed to enhancing the diversity and richness of our workforce to strengthen and maintain an inclusive work environment that values individual differences and treats employees with dignity and respect; thereby, enriching our current workforce, which is driven by our public service mission. This Budget continues our efforts to hire and promote the Nation’s best talent and build a diverse and representative workforce and ensure that all employees have equal opportunities to advance in their chosen careers.
Modernize our Information Technology: The Budget continues investment in our information technology (IT) to reduce the burden on the public, modernize our website and online services, and provide an improved customer experience. To accelerate our progress, the Budget includes $50 million in dedicated no-year funding for our Benefits Modernization efforts. Our Benefits Modernization efforts will provide our employees with better technology tools to determine eligibility and process claims in order to better serve the public. The Benefits Modernization project is in addition to the efforts we are taking to sustain our systems.
Provides National, Comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave: The vast majority of America’s workers do not have access to paid family leave, including three out of four private sector workers. Among the lowest-paid workers, who are predominantly women and workers of color, 92 percent have no access to paid family leave through their employers. As many as one in five retirees leave the workforce earlier than planned to care for an ill family member, which negatively impacts families as well as the Nation’s labor supply and productivity. The Budget proposes to establish a national, comprehensive paid family and medical leave program administered by SSA. The program would: provide workers with progressive, partial wage replacement to take time off for family and medical reasons; include robust administrative funding; and use an inclusive family definition. The Budget would provide up to 12 weeks of leave to allow eligible workers to take time off to: care for and bond with a new child; care for a seriously ill loved one; heal from their own serious illness; address circumstances arising from a loved one’s military deployment; or find safety from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. The Budget would also provide up to three days to grieve the death of a loved one. The Administration looks forward to continuing to work with the Congress to make this critical investment and strengthen America’s economy.
Building on the President’s strong record of fiscal responsibility, the Budget more than fully pays for its investments—reducing deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade by asking the wealthy and big corporations to pay their fair share.
For more information on the President’s FY 2024 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/.
Did you find this Information helpful?
Tags: Commissioner, General Information, social security
See CommentsAbout the Author
Comments
Comments are closed.
Robin W.
My husband worked since he was 16 and passed at 62. Paid SS tax all his life and he will never see a cent! Why don’t widow receive their husbands money? It was paid in all those years and if we would have invested we would have had something. Now I am scraping by on one income – thievery
Serena S.
As his widow, you are eligible if you are over age 62 , I believe, or 65 if you want to collect more. But if you are also eligible on your own salary, you can only collect one – whichever is more. Call them to find out for sure. (My mom collected on my dad’s earnings because he passed at age 64 and she did not work out of the home.)
Patricia M.
Yes, you are definitely correct. Robin, get in touch with the Social Security office and ask the question. They’ll wall you through what you have to do.
Sharon M.
I agree!! I began working at age 16 and am entitled to benefits based on my own work record. My husband, who also started working at age 16 and worked all of his life, passed in August at age 80. Before he died, we both received our full benefit. Now I can only receive his benefit and none of the benefit that I earned. And what happens to the contributions of those who die before receiving any of their benefits? Our son died at age 32 after 16 years working…Social Security didn’t even pay the $250 death benefit.
Nett
Sharon,
Yes you are entitled, but don’t even waste your time calling SSA. File a civil appeal in federal court or these people will have you chasing your tail forever.
Hope-Faith
You need to file for benefits. If you would receive more off of his record than yours. You will receive a combined amount that equals his amount. You have to be at least 60. Unless you are disabled and then it is 50..
See Surviving Spouse
https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/survivors/ifyou.html#h2
Nett
Robin,
Same here, except I have a disabled adult child that is being denied her father’s benefits. He worked 30 yrs for GM & could not get approved for disability benefits for a heart impairment. He died in 2021 still appealing this decision. My question is; where does that money go if not to the families?? No one else should be entitled more than the family he left behind.
Nett
Yes you are entitled, but don’t even waste your time calling SSA. File a civil appeal in federal court or these people will have you chasing your tail forever.
robert
give the money back you all took out of social security it would not haft to be fixed!.
Patricia M.
Yep, they started dipping into the SS Fund 38 years ago and have kept at it over the years. The Federal Government now owes the Social Security ding $2.7 TRILLION bucks. Thing they’ll ever actually pay it back? 🤣🤣🤣
Rich P.
Our tax policies are complicated. To understand how the very wealthy pay less taxes on their wealth click the link below. It explains in somewhat simple terms.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/cea/written-materials/2021/09/23/what-is-the-average-federal-individual-income-tax-rate-on-the-wealthiest-americans/
Phil O.
Can’t wait to see the perks in this garbage. You can bet the pols are going to take care of their cronies!
Daniel R.
I agree with many of the previous posts. This is total bunk. How in the world does the Biden-Harris administration expect to strengthen Social Security by spending more money instead of fixing the financial and fraud problems. Instead they want to invest our IRAs and retirement funds into woke companies and play political games.
Patricia M.
Sorry, but Biden / Harris didn’t “borrow” money out of the SS fund 38 years ago and then keep “borrowing”from it for years, that was Congress. And the Federal Govt now owes the account $2.7 trillion yes TRLION BUCKS! So SORRY BIDEN can’t “make a silk purse out of a sows ear “ he’s trying to do the best for us, with the limited budget he currently has to work with!
Vicki S.
It is not proper for the head of an “unbiased” agency to comment on political matters. Biden’s spending policies have driven this country into the deepest debt ever experienced. This improper left-wing support statement should be removed from the social security website and a retraction printed in its place. Totally out of line!
Kinsale
Couldn’t disagree more. Frankly, we could use a lot less interference in politics by the wealthy and more information on the vital role government plays in building a decent society. I applaud the Acting Commissioner’s blog post.
Jim M.
Since the wealthy pay the most taxes in the country, we do need their participation in politics.
Instead of adding new programs, we should be working on shoring up the system. Does this budget do that?
Robin W.
You really think the wealthy pay the most taxes? The 1% not
Frances W.
Sorry to have to tell you this BUT it wasn’t Biden that spent the money. Trump is the one that spent all the money . Don’t take it from me. Look up the facts and truth. Since you are on the internet it shouldn’t be to hard to find the truth.
Victor A.
I am really nervous about our federal agencies like SSOC implementing national policies that may not have been explicitly authorized by Congress. Has Congress authorized the family leave provisions mentioned above?
I also worry that given that entitlements make up about one third of the federal budget and we are at such a large budget deficit, that these admirable plans will create even more challenges.
Is it the case that if Congress approves the President’s budget, they have explicitly authorized these policies?
Thanks.
Vicki S.
Agree with you completely! This is totally out of line.
Angie F.
Is it not fair enough that the SSS takes care of every member who paid their dues on time every month for their secured retirement. Please understand that every Senior Citizen is looking forward to a secured old age. Thank you.
Eugene K.
Biden is breaking American financial safety with his reckless spending. I don’t support his financial policies which hurt all Americans
Dave
Where were you when Trump was spending $8+ trillion or 30% of our deficit in just 4 yrs?? Smarten up
Blankenship T.
Agree with you Dave. Tax breaks for the wealthy. Meanwhile, my 85 year-old mother barely makes ends meet. And her Medicare supplement and RX plan cost $600 per month. Why should this happen to the oldest people in our society who become widows or even widowers?
Frances W.
Right on!
Vicki S.
Agree with you completely, Eugene K. This never should have been published. The Social Security Administration is supposed to be a non-biased, non-political entity.
Patti Z.
Me either! He’s a con man!
Kinsale
The real threat to all Americans is the House Republicans holding the debt ceiling hostage for cheap political points. Lesson 1: You don’t screw with the money –especially when it’s not your money.
Thomas E.
This is a shameful political statement from a person who should strive to be unbiased. To use the term “fair share” is ridiculous. Please define “fair share” – the top 1% of earners currently contribute approximately 40% of federal income taxes paid. Given that fact, what exactly is their “fair share”? Shame on you!
John S.
Well said, Thomas. Obviously another bogus attempt by Biden and his political hacks to politicize his left wing policies. Democrats should all be ashamed of our Commander-in-Thief’s attempts to further bankrupt our nation.
Ed L.
The high wage earners make a VERY LARGE percentage of TOTAL PERSONAL INCOME. Saying they pay a large percentage of the tax is totally irrelevant!!
John J.
Thomas E. – you forgot to mention what percent of income the top 1% earn. Try this from the Tax Foundation:
“The top 1 percent earned 22.2 percent of total AGI and paid 42.3 percent of all federal income taxes.”
So those who earn 22.2 percent of AGI (Adjusted Gross Income), pay 42.3 percent of all Federal income taxes. Doesn’t sound that bad when you compare how much they make to how much they pay in taxes. After all “To Whom Much Is Given; Much is expected.”
Vicki S.
Agree! I believe the last numbers I saw stated that over 50% of wage earners pay ZERO taxes. High net worth earners pay the majority of taxes even with allowable deductions. I would love to see a flat tax, payable by EVERY wage earner. The more you make, the more you pay.
Frances W.
Rubbish; everyone that gets a pay check no matter how small pays taxes. I would like to see flat tax also
Patti
Nothing he says is as it seems. He’s a professional story teller.