Saving Social Security is necessary

By J.D. FORD
Guest Columnist

The Social Security Trust Fund is projected to run out of money by 2032. The Congressional Budget Office says if Congress doesn’t act, millions of Hoosier retirees will only receive 76 percent of the benefits they’ve earned.

For a retired worker or a grandmother, that is not a minor budget adjustment. It is a catastrophe.

Decisions being made in Washington today are mortgaging our future for personal financial gain and short-term political headlines. If you work hard and play by the rules, you should retire with dignity.

I am running for Congress to keep that promise.

I recently hosted a Social Security Town Hall with former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley to explain the long-term funding gap and how we can fix it. We do not need a miracle to save Social Security. We need a stable, common-sense plan that puts YOU first.

As Commissioner O’Malley and I laid out, there are a number of actions that can be taken to protect the Social Security system:

• Scrap the cap: Ensure everyone pays their fair share on all earnings to extend the life of the trust fund for decades.
• Full-time leadership: Mandate a permanent, full-time Commissioner whose sole job is to execute for the people, ensuring the agency is managed by a dedicated professional rather than a political appointee.
• Reverse DOGE cuts: Reverse Department of Government Efficiency cuts that have gutted staffing and increased phone call wait times. Hoosiers deserve to have their phone calls answered by a real person when they need help.
• Fair COLA adjustments: Adopt the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly to ensure cost-of-living adjustments actually reflect the rising costs of healthcare and housing.
• Preventing privatization: Block any attempt to gamble Social Security funds in the stock market or hand the system over to Wall Street.

Unfortunately, our government is taking “security” out of Social Security with actions like:

• $450 million Social Security budget cut: The 2025 House budget slashed $450 million from the Social Security Administration’s operating budget, causing a 50-year staffing low, longer wait times on the phone, and the closure of local field offices.
• Raising retirement age: There is constant discussion about raising the retirement age, which hurts younger workers and those in physically demanding labor jobs.
• Gambling with your retirement: Washington continues to push plans to privatize Social Security, which would put your retirement in the hands of the stock market.

Hoosiers have built their cities and towns on hard work and the strength of middle America. We can’t wait until 2032 to act. You deserve to get 100 percent of the benefits you’ve earned, but Washington’s short-sighted decision-making puts that at risk.

My plan is ready, the funding gap is solvable, and my focus remains on the families of Indiana.

J.D. Ford is currently a State Senator representing District 29, which encompasses portions of Carmel, Zionsville, and Indianapolis. He is running in the Democratic primary to represent Indiana’s Fifth District in the U.S. House.