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6 Sep, 4 tweets, 4 min read
HUGE NEWS: President Biden’s SSI proposals would bring 3.3 million people out of poverty, and cut poverty among SSI beneficiaries *IN HALF*, according to the @UrbanInstitute.

@citizencohn has the scoop: huffpost.com/entry/ssi-upda…

#DemolishDisabledPoverty
These jaw-dropping numbers are a stark reminder of what @mattbc and I mean by #DemolishDisabledPoverty—as well as the historic opportunity Democrats have right now to improve millions of lives, as they debate whether to include long-overdue SSI improvements in #BuildBackBetter.
As I told @citizencohn: “The only thing more shameful than how long SSI beneficiaries have already been forgotten would be to leave them behind again now in #BuildBackBetter, on the heels of a pandemic that’s hit disabled people and seniors harder than nearly anyone…”
*Fact sheet with the @urbaninstitute’s full estimates, (c/o @chantelboyens): urban.org/sites/default/…

#DemolishDisabledPoverty

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More from @rebeccavallas

Rebecca Vallas Profile picture
1 Sep
“Congress has failed to uphold its responsibility to SSI recipients by allowing the SSI program to become so outdated that people w/disabilities and seniors are struggling to meet their most basic needs.”

—@RepRaulGrijalva @janschakowsky @RepBowman @AyannaPressley @JimmyGomezCA Image
In a joint statement issued today, @RepRaulGrijalva @janschakowsky @RepBowman @RepPressley @JimmyGomezCA are calling on their Ways and Means colleagues to include SSI in the #BuildBackBetter reconciliation bill.

Full statement: admin-grijalva.house.gov/house-members-…
#DemolishDisabledPoverty
💯:

“Failure by Democrats to include updates to SSI in the reconciliation package will send a bleak signal to [the disability community].”

#DemolishDisabledPoverty
Read 5 tweets
Rebecca Vallas Profile picture
29 Apr
The @SenateFinance Cmte is holding a hearing this AM on @SocialSecurity's "customer service" during the pandemic.

This may sound boring, but here's the subtext: SSI applications & awards are at *historic lows* -- and Trump appointees are still running SSA.

So imma live-tweet...
@SenateFinance @SocialSecurity Up first is Grace Kim, deputy commissioner for operations at @SocialSecurity.

She's trying to paint a rosy picture, saying "reaching vulnerable communities is our priority."

The data say otherwise.
@SenateFinance @SocialSecurity Up next is Kascadare Causeya, Program Manager at Central City Concern in Portland, OR.

He's speaking powerfully about major barriers to access.

Names lack of access to technology as a huge gap, since so much of what SSA has emphasized during the pandemic has been online.
Read 62 tweets
Rebecca Vallas Profile picture
28 Apr
Looking for hot takes on Biden's #AmericanFamiliesPlan?

@TCFdotorg's got you covered with this round-up of reactions from me, @pelhamprog @JulieKashen @drtaylor09 & more 👇

tcf.org/content/about-…
@TCFdotorg @pelhamprog @JulieKashen @drtaylor09 tl;dr on my take:

Together with the #AmericanRescuePlan and the #AmericanJobsPlan, the #AmericanFamiliesPlan represents an historic commitment to addressing America’s shameful and unjust levels of poverty and inequality.

2/
@TCFdotorg @pelhamprog @JulieKashen @drtaylor09 On the income security front, there's lots to be excited about in the #AmericanFamiliesPlan -- including:

* making the EITC expansion for "childless" workers permanent
* permanent full refundability of the Child Tax Credit
* historic expansions of school meals, and more.

3/
Read 7 tweets
Rebecca Vallas Profile picture
19 Apr
BREAKING: A coalition of House & Senate Democrats—led by @SenSherrodBrown @JamaalBowmanNY @SenWarren @SenSanders w/@RonWyden—have teamed up to call on @POTUS to include long-overdue updates to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) in the #AmericanFamilyPlan 👇 ImageImageImage
@SenSherrodBrown @JamaalBowmanNY @SenWarren @SenSanders @RonWyden @POTUS *list of signers cont'd: ImageImage
@SenSherrodBrown @JamaalBowmanNY @SenWarren @SenSanders @RonWyden @POTUS The letter calls on @POTUS to #DemolishDisabledPoverty by including his promises on SSI in the next recovery package:

1) increase SSI’s sub-poverty-level benefits to at least 100% of the federal poverty level

2) raise SSI’s asset limit, which has been stuck at $2,000 since 1989
Read 8 tweets
Rebecca Vallas Profile picture
31 Mar
THREAD: As news rolls out about the next round of economic recovery measures—here’s a plea for the Biden team not to forget a critical program for low-income seniors & disabled people that’s been left to wither on the vine for decades:

Supplemental Security Income, aka SSI.
Nearly 8 million low-income seniors and people with disabilities rely on SSI for subsistence income.

The income support SSI provides is critical—but benefits are so meager, they consign people to abject poverty.

The max SSI benefit for 2021 is $794/mo, about $26 a day.

2/
Putting SSI's sub-poverty benefit levels in context:

They’re not enough to afford rent in any state in the U.S.—even spending 100% of your monthly benefit on rent.

Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment: $1,063/mo—128% of an SSI recipient’s monthly income.

3/
Read 12 tweets
Rebecca Vallas Profile picture
20 Feb
THREAD: Grim new data from the @SocialSecurity Administration show a *huge* drop in low-income elderly & disabled folks able to access SSI during the pandemic. Field office closures are clearly part of this, but there are deeper problems too. Let’s unpack. npr.org/2021/02/19/969…
First, the data: January 2021 marked the lowest number of new SSI awards per capita in the program’s history. (The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th lowest months were also during the pandemic, so this has been a steady and worsening trend.) 2/
This is troubling on many levels. SSI provides critical if meager income support to the very poorest seniors & people with disabilities. It also provides access to Medicaid. One would hope to see *rising* numbers of people helped given the dramatic increase in need. 3/
Read 12 tweets

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