U.S. senators propose Social Security reform process as funding shortfall nears

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Social Security reform proposal

Highlights

U.S. senators introduced the bipartisan PROMISE Act to create a formal legislative process addressing stalled Social Security reform proposals.
The Social Security trustees report predicts the program will only pay 78% of retirement benefits by 2032 if no reforms occur.
The PROMISE Act targets 50 years of solvency and mandates a 10-year solvency review, with automatic legislative procedures if funding gaps persist.

Legislative framework for Social Security action

As reported by CNBC, the proposed PROMISE Act would create a formal legislative process for Congress to consider Social Security reforms that have largely stalled despite repeated warnings about the program’s finances.

The bill, introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, John Cornyn of Texas, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Angus King of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, is designed to establish procedures for advancing proposals intended to strengthen the program’s long-term finances.

Social Security, a pay-as-you-go federal program that relies on trust funds alongside payroll taxes, may only be able to pay 78% of retirement benefits in 2032, according to the annual Social Security trustees report released in June. The PROMISE Act says a new process is needed because most legislative proposals aimed at fixing the shortfall have not reached a vote.

Solvency targets and broader policy impact

The measure aims to open a path for Congress to weigh what it describes as serious Social Security proposals while targeting at least 50 years of solvency for the system. It would also establish a solvency review every 10 years, triggering the same floor procedures if a projected funding gap reappears.

Durbin says in a statement that Social Security remains a core retirement promise earned through a lifetime of work and that waiting longer makes the financial shortfall harder to address. The bipartisan push underscores growing pressure on lawmakers to act before automatic benefit reductions become a more immediate risk for current and future retirees.

In our earlier article on projections for the 2027 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), we explained how cooling inflation led forecasters to trim expected benefit increases to roughly the high-3% range. We also noted that the official COLA is typically set later in the year based on CPI data, meaning the final adjustment can still shift as inflation trends evolve.

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