[nfbwatlk] Fw: Legislative Alert - Blind Person's Fairness Act Introduced, Cosponsors Needed Now

Thu Oct 18 16:43:43 CDT 2007

Blank----- Original Message ----- 
From: McCarthy, Jim
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 2:23 PM
Subject: Legislative Alert - Blind Person's Fairness Act Introduced, 
Cosponsors Needed Now

Fellow Federationists:

            Congressman John Lewis of Georgia has introduced the Blind 
Person's Earnings Fairness Act of 2007 (H.R. 3834).  When enacted this 
legislation will increase the amount that blind SSDI recipients can earn 
before they lose monthly benefits.  The legislation provides for monthly 
earnings increases before losing benefits over 5 years, as follows:

  a.. In 2008, $1,800;
  b.. In 2009, $2,200;
  c.. In 2010, $2,500;
  d.. In 2011, $2,850; and
  e.. In 2012, the amount applicable to seniors who reach their year of 
full retirement age in 2012.  Though this amount cannot be determined 
with certainty, assuming a two and half percent annual adjustment 
(consistent with recent history) applied to the 2007 amount, the 
applicable monthly earnings amount for 2012 is approximately $3,170.

            To assure House passage of this vital legislation, a 
majority of House cosponsors is critical.  Therefore you must contact 
members of your house delegations to urge their support.  Some time 
remains in this session of Congress for us to set a positive tone by 
acquiring a large number of cosponsors.  Also, legislation carries over 
into the second session of the 110th Congress, though our work must 
start now!  In order for us to be successful, it is imperative that we 
quickly obtain a large number of cosponsors.  Let's push this critical 
legislation over the top!

            Your congressional representative can be reached by calling 
the Capitol switchboard at (202) 225-3121.

            I continue to work on getting Senate sponsorship of 
companion legislation to achieve our objective of making work truly pay 
for Americans who receive SSDI benefits.  I will alert you all once a 
Senate bill is introduced.  The fact sheet from our last Washington 
Seminar, as well as the resolution passed at our last convention in 
Atlanta, are both attached to help with talking points in support of the 
Blind Person's Earnings Fairness Act of 2007.

            The 75 percent unemployment rate of blind Americans is the 
greatest problem blind people face.  By permitting us to earn more 
before Social Security benefits are cut, this legislation will encourage 
more blind people to pursue work.  With work and income, there will be 
greater opportunity leading us closer to the equality we so richly 
deserve.  There is hard work ahead to pass this essential legislation, 
but the rewards it will provide blind Americans are undoubtedly well 
worth our effort.  Therefore, please let us join together to convince 
Congress to pass this very important law.

Most cordially,

James McCarthy

Government Programs Specialist

national federation of the blind

1880 Johnson Street

Baltimore, Maryland 21230

Phone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2240

Email:  jmccarthy at nfb.org

JDM/wmb

Making Work Pay:  Removing the Earnings Penalty
for Blind Social Security Beneficiaries

Purpose:

            To amend Title II of the Social Security Act by mandating 
increases in the level of earnings allowed for blind individuals before 
applying a work penalty.

Background:

            By increasing the Social Security earnings limit in 1996, 
Congress gave seniors a powerful incentive to work.  Advocates stressed 
that seniors would continue to work, earn, and pay taxes since they 
could do so without fearing loss of income from Social Security.

            Today the need for a higher earnings limit for the blind is 
much more compelling because of an all or nothing penalty for exceeding 
the limit.  Nevertheless, the earnings limit for blind individuals has 
not been increased, though historically this limit was tied to the 
applicable limit for seniors.  In 2007, the earnings limit applicable to 
seniors is $34,400 for an individual who reaches Full Retirement Age 
(FRA).  This limit is adjusted annually.  For blind individuals, gross 
earnings exceeding $1,500 monthly ($18,000 annually) cause complete loss 
of benefits until attainment of FRA.  At that point, as is now the case 
for seniors, there is no earnings limit.  This existing inequity must be 
rectified.

Existing Law:

            Like "retirement age," "blindness" is specifically defined 
in the Social Security Act and can be readily determined.  By contrast, 
evaluating "disability" is far more subjective.  Although blindness is 
specifically defined, monthly benefits are not paid to all blind people, 
but only to those not working or whose work earnings are below an 
annually adjusted statutory earnings limit.  Personal wealth derived 
from all sources other than work is subject to no penalty at all. 
However, excess income generated from work results in a total loss of 
cash benefits for blind beneficiaries.  Recognizing the negative impact 
of the earnings limit on seniors, Congress changed the law in 1996 and 
later eliminated their earnings limit altogether.  The present situation 
for blind people is identical to that which seniors faced prior to 1996.

            Examples:  For the blind who find employment, earnings 
almost never replace lost benefits once taxes and work expenses are 
paid.  Therefore, few beneficiaries can truly afford to attempt 
significant work, and those who do often sacrifice income and the 
security of a monthly check.  The following examples illustrate the 
penalty for working.

§         A single blind person with no dependents having annual cash 
benefits of roughly $11,700 or $978 per month (an average benefit), with 
no other income, receives this amount tax-free.  Gross pay to replace 
benefits must be approximately $20,000, taking into account taxes (not 
paid without working) and work expenses (such as commuting and buying 
work-appropriate clothing).  This is $2,000 above the amount blind 
people are allowed.  Annual earnings less than $20,000 will result in an 
income loss.  While some will still choose to work, many will not 
because they cannot afford the lost income.

§         For a blind beneficiary with dependents, the situation is even 
worse.  With two dependents, the family's total benefit averages $17,500 
tax-free annually.  Therefore, earnings in excess of $18,000 (the annual 
earnings limit for blind persons), will not replace benefits.  Using 
conservative assumptions, including combined state and federal taxes of 
twenty-five percent of gross pay and childcare for two children at $500 
per month, replacing $17,500 in benefits would require over $32,000 in 
gross pay.  When dependents are involved, the choice whether or not to 
work is profoundly restricted, and the amount necessary to replace 
combined family benefits vastly exceeds the blind person's earnings 
limit.

Need for Legislation:

            Steadily increasing the earnings limit for blind people over 
five years, thereby linking it to the limit applicable in the year of 
FRA, will allow blind people to work without facing an overwhelming 
financial penalty for their effort.  This would provide more than 
100,000 blind beneficiaries with an effective work incentive.  In 2007 a 
blind individual's earnings cannot exceed a rigid monthly limit of 
$1,500.  Earnings exceeding this threshold result in immediate 
withdrawal of the entire sum paid to a primary beneficiary and 
dependents, following completion of a trial work period.  The economic 
risk occurring to a blind head of household negates any possible 
economic benefit.

            An increase in the earnings limit would be cost-beneficial. 
With an estimated seventy-four percent unemployment rate, an 
overwhelming majority of working-age blind people are already 
beneficiaries.  With the meaningful work incentive proposed here, many 
would become taxpayers as well.  Congress raised the earnings exemption 
for seniors, and Congress alone can raise the limit for the blind.  The 
chance to work, earn, and pay taxes is a constructive and valid goal for 
senior citizens and blind Americans alike.

Requested Action:

§         Congress should enact annual increases in the statutory 
earnings limit for blind individuals over five years, ultimately linking 
it to that applicable to individuals in the year they attain full 
retirement age.  The earnings limit should be increased according to the 
following schedule:

§         For 2008 $21,600

§         For 2009 $26,400

§         For 2010 $30,000

§         For 2011 $34,200

§         For 2012 the amount applicable to individuals who attain Full 
Retirement Age in that year.

§         Please support Blind Americans by sponsoring or cosponsoring 
the Blind Persons Earnings Fairness Act of 2007.

§         Please advise members of the National Federation of the Blind 
of your commitment to sponsor or cosponsor this legislation.

Contact Information:

James McCarthy, Director of Governmental Affairs
National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, 
Maryland  21230

Email:  jmccarthy at nfb.org   Phone:  (410) 659-9314, extension 2240

RESOLUTION 2007-12

Regarding SSDI Earnings Limits for Blind Beneficiaries

            WHEREAS, the Social Security Disability Insurance program 
(SSDI) is our nation's safety net, designed to catch and support adults 
who become disabled, but for blind citizens SSDI has turned into a trap 
that holds blind working-age Americans out of the workforce with a 
combination of cash benefits and medical coverage worth far more than a 
beneficiary is allowed to earn before all benefits are abruptly 
terminated if the beneficiary works and earns more than a prescribed 
earnings limit; and

            WHEREAS, this safety net was intended to catch and does 
catch an employee losing sight, allowing for time to become accustomed 
to life as a blind person and to learn how to function capably when 
blind; and

            WHEREAS, at the point when the SSDI recipient is ready and 
willing to re-enter the workforce, the trap aspect of SSDI emerges, 
making going to work unaffordable and thus functioning as a work 
disincentive that many believe is the largest single cause of 
unemployment in the blind community; and

            WHEREAS, the current annualized earnings limit for SSDI 
beneficiaries of $18,000 is a work disincentive because the blind 
beneficiary determined to go back to work must risk financial hardships 
while stepping from SSDI and eventually from Medicare to the amount of 
annual taxable salary needed to replace SSDI income and Medicare 
coverage; and

            WHEREAS, a single blind person with no dependents receiving 
$11,700 in annual SSDI benefits must make nearly $20,000 in gross pay to 
replace the value of SSDI benefits ($2,000 over the current earnings 
limit), thus creating a disincentive to work, never mind the value of 
the Medicare coverage that will be lost; and

            WHEREAS, a blind beneficiary with two dependents receiving 
$17,500 in annual SSDI cash benefits must earn a gross income of nearly 
$32,000 to replace the value of all the SSDI benefits lost by going to 
work, thus radically restricting the decision to work of parents with 
dependent children; and

            WHEREAS, several years ago Congress dropped earnings limits 
for our nation's senior citizens, recognizing the negative impact of an 
earnings limit, instead creating an incentive for seniors to work if 
they choose; and

      WHEREAS, annually increasing the earnings limit for blind people 
in graduated steps over five years and eventually linking it to the 
limit for those of retirement age would create a work incentive for over 
100,000 blind beneficiaries and eliminate the current financial penalty 
now unnecessarily imposed on those wanting and willing to work; and

            WHEREAS, an increase in the earnings limit would increase 
the number of taxpayers and introduce a positive incentive for SSDI 
beneficiaries to work, thus reducing the shockingly high unemployment 
rate of 74 percent among America's blind working-age citizens; and

            WHEREAS, an increase in the earnings limit for blind 
beneficiaries in 2008 to $21,600, in 2009 to $26,400, in 2010 to 
$30,000, in 2011 to $34,200, and in 2012 to the amount applicable to 
individuals who attain full retirement age in that year would 
substantially reduce the work disincentive now posed by SSDI; and

            WHEREAS, gradually implementing this work incentive in place 
of the current work disincentive would encourage and enable 
beneficiaries to continue working or to re-enter the workforce, would 
remove the financial risk of going back to work, and would ease the 
profound restrictions currently limiting the choices blind people can 
make while supporting themselves and their families: Now, therefore,

            BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in 
Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 2007, in the city of 
Atlanta, Georgia, that this organization urgently call upon Congress to 
enact legislation amending Title II of the Social Security Act by 
immediately mandating increases in the level of the earnings limit 
allowed for blind individuals to achieve removal of the negative impact, 
limited choices, and restrictions that encourage blind people not to 
work and replacing them with a work incentive to unlock the trap and 
free America's blind citizens to work, earn, and pay taxes without 
financial risk.

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----- Original Message -----
From:
mailto:JMcCarthy at NFB.ORG McCarthy, Jim
To:
mailto:undisclosed-recipients: undisclosed-recipients:
Sent:
Thursday, October 18, 2007 2:23 PM
Subject:
Legislative Alert - Blind Person's Fairness Act Introduced, Cosponsors Needed Now

Fellow Federationists:

Congressman John Lewis of Georgia has introduced the Blind Person's Earnings Fairness Act of 2007 (H.R. 3834).

When enacted this legislation will increase the amount that blind SSDI recipients can earn before they lose monthly benefits.

The legislation provides for monthly earnings increases before losing benefits over 5 years, as follows:

In 2008, $1,800;
In 2009, $2,200;
In 2010, $2,500;
In 2011, $2,850; and
In 2012, the amount applicable to seniors who reach their year of full retirement age in 2012.

Though this amount cannot be determined with certainty, assuming a two and half percent annual adjustment (consistent with recent history) applied to the 2007 amount, the applicable monthly earnings amount for 2012 is approximately $3,170.

To assure House passage of this vital legislation, a majority of House cosponsors is critical.

Therefore you must contact members of your house delegations to urge their support.

Some time remains in this session of Congress for us to set a positive tone by acquiring a large number of cosponsors.

Also, legislation carries over into the second session of the 110
th
Congress, though our work must start now!

In order for us to be successful, it is imperative that we quickly obtain a large number of cosponsors.

Let’s push this critical legislation over the top!

Your congressional representative can be reached by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 225-3121.

I continue to work on getting Senate sponsorship of companion legislation to achieve our objective of making work truly pay for Americans who receive SSDI benefits.

I will alert you all once a Senate bill is introduced.

The fact sheet from our last Washington Seminar, as well as the resolution passed at our last convention in Atlanta, are both attached to help with talking points in support of the Blind Person’s Earnings Fairness Act of 2007.

The 75 percent unemployment rate of blind Americans is the greatest problem blind people face.

By permitting us to earn more before Social Security benefits are cut, this legislation will encourage more blind people to pursue work.

With work and income, there will be greater opportunity leading us closer to the equality we so richly deserve.

There is hard work ahead to pass this essential legislation, but the rewards it will provide blind Americans are undoubtedly well worth our effort.

Therefore, please let us join together to convince Congress to pass this very important law.

Most cordially,

James McCarthy
Government Programs Specialist
national federation of the blind
1880 J
ohnson Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
Phone: (410) 659-9314, extension 2240
Email:

mailto:jmccarthy at nfb.org jmccarthy at nfb.org

JDM/wmb

Making Work Pay:

Removing the Earnings Penalty
for Blind Social Security Beneficiaries

Purpose:

To amend Title II of the Social Security Act by mandating increases in the level of earnings allowed for blind individuals before applying a work penalty.

Background:

By increasing the Social Security earnings limit in 1996, Congress gave seniors a powerful incentive to work.

Advocates stressed that seniors would continue to work, earn, and pay taxes since they could do so without fearing loss of income from Social Security.

Today the need for a higher earnings limit for the blind is much more compelling because of an all or nothing penalty for exceeding the limit.

Nevertheless, the earnings limit for blind individuals has not been increased, though historically this limit was tied to the applicable limit for seniors.

In 2007, the earnings limit applicable to seniors is $34,400 for an individual who reaches Full Retirement Age (FRA).

This limit is adjusted annually.

For blind individuals, gross earnings exceeding $1,500 monthly ($18,000 annually) cause complete loss of benefits until attainment of FRA.

At that point, as is now the case for seniors, there is no earnings limit.

This existing inequity must be rectified.

Existing Law:

Like "retirement age," "blindness" is specifically defined in the Social Security Act and can be readily determined.

By contrast, evaluating "disability" is far more subjective.

Although blindness is specifically defined, monthly benefits are not paid to all blind people, but only to those not working or whose work earnings are below an annually adjusted statutory earnings limit.

Personal wealth derived from all sources other than work is subject to no penalty at all.

However, excess income generated from work results in a total loss of cash benefits for blind beneficiaries.

Recognizing the negative impact of the earnings limit on seniors, Congress changed the law in 1996 and later eliminated their earnings limit altogether.

The present situation for blind people is identical to that which seniors faced prior to 1996.

Examples:

For the blind who find employment, earnings almost never replace lost benefits once taxes and work expenses are paid.

Therefore, few beneficiaries can truly afford to attempt significant work, and those who do often sacrifice income and the security of a monthly check.

The following examples illustrate the penalty for working.

§

A single blind person with no dependents having annual cash benefits of roughly $11,700 or $978 per month (an average benefit), with no other income, receives this amount tax-free.

Gross pay to replace benefits must be approximately $20,000, taking into account taxes (not paid without working) and work expenses (such as commuting and buying work-appropriate clothing).

This is $2,000 above the amount blind people are allowed.

Annual earnings less than $20,000 will result in an income loss.

While some will still choose to work, many will not because they cannot afford the lost income.

§

For a blind beneficiary with dependents, the situation is even worse.

With two dependents, the family's total benefit averages $17,500 tax-free annually.

Therefore, earnings in excess of $18,000 (the annual earnings limit for blind persons), will not replace benefits.

Using conservative assumptions, including combined state and federal taxes of twenty-five percent of gross pay and childcare for two children at $500 per month, replacing $17,500 in benefits would require over $32,000 in gross pay.

When dependents are involved, the choice whether or not to work is profoundly restricted, and the amount necessary to replace combined family benefits vastly exceeds the blind person's earnings limit.

Need for Legislation:

Steadily increasing the earnings limit for blind people over five years, thereby linking it to the limit applicable in the year of FRA, will allow blind people to work without facing an overwhelming financial penalty for their effort.

This would provide more than 100,000 blind beneficiaries with an effective work incentive.

In 2007 a blind individual’s earnings cannot exceed a rigid monthly limit of $1,500.

Earnings exceeding this threshold result in immediate withdrawal of the entire sum paid to a primary beneficiary and dependents, following completion of a trial work period.

The economic risk occurring to a blind head of household negates any possible economic benefit.

An increase in the earnings limit would be cost-beneficial.

With an estimated seventy-four percent unemployment rate, an overwhelming majority of working-age blind people are already beneficiaries.

With the meaningful work incentive proposed here, many would become taxpayers as well.

Congress raised the earnings exemption for seniors, and Congress alone can raise the limit for the blind.

The chance to work, earn, and pay taxes is a constructive and valid goal for senior citizens and blind Americans alike.

Requested Action:
§

Congress should enact annual increases in the statutory earnings limit for blind individuals over five years, ultimately linking it to that applicable to individuals in the year they attain full retirement age.

The earnings limit should be increased according to the following schedule:

§

For 2008 $21,600
§

For 2009 $26,400
§

For 2010 $30,000
§

For 2011 $34,200
§

For 2012 the amount applicable to individuals who attain Full Retirement Age in that year.
§

Please support Blind Americans by sponsoring or cosponsoring the Blind Persons Earnings Fairness Act of 2007.

§

Please advise members of the National Federation of the Blind of your commitment to sponsor or cosponsor this legislation.

Contact Information:
James McCarthy, Director of Governmental Affairs
National Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson Street, Baltimore, Maryland

21230
Email:

mailto:jmccarthy at nfb.org
jmccarthy at nfb.org

Phone:

(410) 659-9314, extension 2240

RESOLUTION 2007-12
Regarding SSDI Earnings Limits for Blind Beneficiaries

WHEREAS, the Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI) is our nation’s safety net, designed to catch and support adults who become disabled, but for blind citizens SSDI has turned into a trap that holds blind working-age Americans out of the workforce with a combination of cash benefits and medical coverage worth far more than a beneficiary is allowed to earn before all benefits are abruptly terminated if the beneficiary works and earns more than a prescribed earnings limit; and

WHEREAS, this safety net was intended to catch and does catch an employee losing sight, allowing for time to become accustomed to life as a blind person and to learn how to function capably when blind; and

WHEREAS, at the point when the SSDI recipient is ready and willing to re-enter the workforce, the trap aspect of SSDI emerges, making going to work unaffordable and thus functioning as a work disincentive that many believe is the largest single cause of unemployment in the blind community; and

WHEREAS, the current annualized earnings limit for SSDI beneficiaries of $18,000 is a work disincentive because the blind beneficiary determined to go back to work must risk financial hardships while stepping from SSDI and eventually from Medicare to the amount of annual taxable salary needed to replace SSDI income and Medicare coverage; and

WHEREAS, a single blind person with no dependents receiving $11,700 in annual SSDI benefits must make nearly $20,000 in gross pay to replace the value of SSDI benefits ($2,000 over the current earnings limit), thus creating a disincentive to work, never mind the value of the Medicare coverage that will be lost; and

WHEREAS, a blind beneficiary with two dependents receiving $17,500 in annual SSDI cash benefits must earn a gross income of nearly $32,000 to replace the value of all the SSDI benefits lost by going to work, thus radically restricting the decision to work of parents with dependent children; and

WHEREAS, several years ago Congress dropped earnings limits for our nation’s senior citizens, recognizing the negative impact of an earnings limit, instead creating an incentive for seniors to work if they choose; and

WHEREAS, annually increasing the earnings limit for blind people in graduated steps over five years and eventually linking it to the limit for those of retirement age would create a work incentive for over 100,000 blind beneficiaries and eliminate the current financial penalty now unnecessarily imposed on those wanting and willing to work; and

WHEREAS, an increase in the earnings limit would increase the number of taxpayers and introduce a positive incentive for SSDI beneficiaries to work, thus reducing the shockingly high unemployment rate of 74 percent among America’s blind working-age citizens; and

WHEREAS, an increase in the earnings limit for blind beneficiaries in 2008 to $21,600, in 2009 to $26,400, in 2010 to $30,000, in 2011 to $34,200, and in 2012 to the amount applicable to individuals who attain full retirement age in that year would substantially reduce the work disincentive now posed by SSDI; and

WHEREAS, gradually implementing this work incentive in place of the current work disincentive would encourage and enable beneficiaries to continue working or to re-enter the workforce, would remove the financial risk of going back to work, and would ease the profound restrictions currently limiting the choices blind people can make while supporting themselves and their families: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this sixth day of July, 2007, in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, that this organization urgently call upon Congress to enact legislation amending Title II of the Social Security Act by immediately mandating increases in the level of the earnings limit allowed for blind individuals to achieve removal of the negative impact, limited choices, and restrictions that encourage blind people not to work and replacing them with a work incentive to unlock the trap and free America’s blind citizens to work, earn, and pay taxes without financial risk.

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