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Caught on Social Security tightrope

Many lawmakers struggle to balance the needs of older populations with allegiance to the Republican agenda.

By ANITA KUMAR
Published January 31, 2005

WASHINGTON - Ginny Brown-Waite knows that many residents in her retiree-rich congressional district north of Tampa Bay don't want Social Security to change.

But the representative from Crystal River also knows her Republican colleagues and President Bush are counting on her to help radically transform the government retirement plan.

It's a delicate balancing act facing many Florida members of Congress, who must weigh the needs of their older populations and their allegiance to the Republican agenda.

The dilemma isn't lost on Brown-Waite, whose district includes the fourth-highest number of seniors in the nation.

She wrote a bill that would guarantee Social Security would stay intact for older residents, but she also is open to the president's idea to let younger workers invest some of their Social Security payroll taxes.

"I'm not rushing into any plan. To me, we need to have that assurance out there first," Brown-Waite said. "People in my district are concerned. I want to make sure they aren't frightened."

President Bush is lobbying Congress to make the biggest changes to Social Security in two decades. He needs Republicans on his side, and even some Democrats.

That may be tough to get in Florida, home to nine of the 10 oldest congressional districts in the nation, where millions of retirees use their monthly Social Security checks for rent and groceries.

More than 2.8-million Floridians - 18 percent of the state's population - are 65 or older. About 3.3-million Floridians receive Social Security.

Bush has been vague about his proposal but is expected to outline details in the State of the Union address Wednesday night. He plans an election-style campaign swing through four states, including Florida, on Thursday and Friday to tout his plan. Tampa is his last stop.

"I think you will see significant interest on the part of many Floridians," said U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, a Tampa Democrat. "No state stands to benefit or lose more than Florida."

Opponents of the president's plan are gearing up. The AARP has taken out full-page newspaper ads. Last week, thousands of Floridians received tape-recorded phone messages advising them to call their congressman to oppose "privatizing" Social Security. The recordings said it would cost $2-trillion and reduce future benefits by 47 percent.

So far, west-central Florida's representatives in Washington fall along party lines. Almost.

U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, whose district includes St. Petersburg, is one of a handful of Republican congressmen who haven't fallen into line.

"I'm not going to support anything that makes Social Security subject to the stock market," Young said. "I have always been very careful to make a decision regardless of politics. I don't think a decision should be made based on whether you support the president or don't support the president."

The phones in his office rang like crazy last week. Two staffers sat at old wooden desks in Young's front lobby, pen and paper at the ready, and answered calls every few seconds.

"He has taken no formal stance for or against any plan, and there hasn't been a bill yet," an exasperated staffer informed a Floridian who received an anonymous recording against changing Social Security.

Social Security is projected to start paying out more in benefits than it collects in taxes in 2018, and to pay full promised benefits only until 2042.

West-central Florida lawmakers agree something needs to be done now to fix Social Security in the future. The question is what.

Brown-Waite and Rep. Adam Putnam, a Republican from Bartow, are open to personal accounts, depending on the cost.

Putnam described it as a more "palatable" solution than raising taxes or increasing the retirement age. "I'm open to that idea, but the details really, really matter," he said.

Brown-Waite said she is trying to protect future generations from what happened to her 88-year-old mother-in-law in New Jersey, who thought Social Security would be enough to live on in retirement. It wasn't. "We need to protect those at retirement age while offering others to have the option of being able to invest a portion of their money," she said.

The president says retirees and older workers would not be affected by any changes, and only younger workers would be allowed to invest.

But Davis, the only Democrat to represent the Tampa Bay area, said he isn't sure about that. "There is a genuine concern about whether the president is going to keep his promise," he said. "It raises a lot of uncertainty."

Davis is opposed to carving money out of Social Security for personal accounts; he agrees with other Democrats that less dramatic changes could be enough to fix future problems. Other options include increasing payroll tax payments by upper-income workers or changing how benefits are calculated.

The AARP, the national group that represents seniors, says diverting payroll taxes to investment accounts is expensive, risky and unnecessary. "We don't like the idea of putting risk in Social Security," AARP chief executive William Novelli said. "We are dead set against private accounts. We are speaking out now and speaking out forcefully."

The AARP does not oppose offering investment accounts on top of Social Security.

Rep. Mike Bilirakis, who represents north Pinellas County, chose not to comment for this story.

Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, one of two Floridians on the House Ways and Means committee who will work on a Social Security proposal, said he is mindful of AARP's stance, and wants Congress to find a way to add investment accounts without using Social Security.

The former chairman of the House Social Security subcommittee said he wants to borrow money to add on the personal accounts, then pay the money back with interest.

But U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Jupiter, also on the committee, supports carving out Social Security for personal accounts, adding that he has found that many Florida seniors are willing to consider changes to keep the system solvent.

Said Foley: "We are weak and inefficient if we don't challenge the traditional notion that we don't talk about Social Security."

--Times staff writers Wes Allison and Matt Waite and researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.

[Last modified January 31, 2005, 00:39:02]

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