Rep. Hill, Sen. Cotton Reintroduce Bill to Reform Social Security and Help Get Americans Back to Work

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- Rep. French Hill, R-Arkansas, issued the following news release on July 30, 2021:

Rep. French Hill (AR-02) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) today reintroduced the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) Return to Work Act.

"Since arriving in Congress, Sen. Cotton and I advocated for improving this program to keep it solvent for those who truly need the benefits and to incentivize a return to work for those who don't," said Rep. Hill. "Each American and Arkansan has the capacity for contributing productively to the community and the economy, and our bill jumpstarts that."

"We shouldn't resign people with treatable conditions to a lifetime of sitting on the sidelines. If they can get back to work, then by all means we should help them," said Cotton. "That's why we've got to fix this program so it takes into account people's different capabilities. This will not only save the program, which is dangerously close to going bankrupt; It will save our aid for the people who need it most."

Further Background

The SSDI program has grown seven-fold from $20 billion to $146.26 billion (in 2020 dollars) since 1970. At the same time, the number of beneficiaries who leave the program to return to work has dropped from nearly six percent in 1982 to less than one percent (.7%) in 2019.

The SSDI Return to Work Act ensures the responsible stewardship of program funds and strengthens a valuable safety net for Americans with disabilities.

Specifically, this bill:

* Requires the SSA to establish new disability classifications that will determine a beneficiary's likelihood of medically improving. If the SSDI beneficiary has a possibility of medically improving, the bill asks the SSA to conduct a review that will determine the beneficiary's need to continue receiving SSDI benefits.

* Requires the Social Security Administration (SSA) Commissioner to advertise the Ticket to Work Program to SSDI beneficiaries at the time they are awarded benefits and every six months thereafter.

* Amends the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) to include qualified SSDI beneficiaries. WOTC is a federal tax credit available to employers for hiring individuals meeting certain criteria.

Rep. Hill and Sen. Cotton have introduced the SSDI Return to Work Act in 2016, 2017, and 2019 during the 114th, 115th, 116th Congresses.