June 20 meeting: the Offset is a moral issue, but we don't have any money

The task force met on Thursday, June 20. It was easy to spot David Vite, the business lobbyist. In addition to being very handsome, he was also wearing the best suit in the room.

My state representative, Kelly Cassidy, was there. She's on the task force and is also the House sponsor of the legislation to repeal the social security offset provision in Illinois. Kelly is even smarter and more savvy than I thought she was -- and I already thought she was very smart and savvy.

State Senator Rezin was present by phone -- but I think she might have only been there for a few minutes.

I was told there was another state legislator there, but I didn't catch his name. I get it for you.

The IDES lawyer, Joseph Mueller, corrected the information he had given the task force at the last meeting -- corrections I gave him.

But get this -- According to Mueller, Louisiana may not enforce the offset -- which means Illinois is the ONLY place that does. (Minnesota does, maybe, under some hardly used compromise provision.)

I'm trying to track the Louisiana information down. It's very difficult to get through to a human being in Louisiana. Minnesota and I have been talking for a while. The people there are getting back to me.

When the task force agenda came to public comments, both I and the fabulous woman who runs another blog about this issue testified. I think it was the first time any of these folks -- except for our advocate Ryan from AARP who is on the task force and Vite who has been annoyed by my testimony before -- ever heard how the offset affects real people from some of the real people it affected.

We said it was state-supported age discrimination. I brought lots of letters from people all over the state.

I think the members finally had to acknowledge that the offset is a moral issue.

However, that didn't stop the task force from quickly running behind the cover of "how do we pay for it." To pay senior workers the full amount of the unemployment they should receive in a YEAR would cost considerably less than what IDES pays out in a MONTH.

I'll be back soon with the information from Louisiana and Minnesota and everyone's name and contact information. Meanwhile, here's what I prepared and used as talking points on June 20:

Information about the Social Security Offset Provision in Illinois

Prepared by Nancy Solomon, nancy@nancysolomon.net 773-262-8070. June 20, 2013

What is the Social Security Offset?

·       In 1980 the U.S. Dept. of Labor gave individual states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories the OPTION of taking social security benefits into account when computing unemployment payments.

·       More than 20 states, DC and the U.S. territories chose the offset. All have repealed it –-- except Illinois and Louisiana.

The Illinois 50% Offset Formula

·       In Illinois, one-half of an older worker’s weekly social security payment is deducted from his or her weekly unemployment payment.

How the Offset Affects Older Workers in Illinois

·       More than 17,000 workers in Illinois are affected by the social security offset.

·       Some receive ZERO unemployment payments.

·       Reduced unemployment payments create a financial hardship during an already difficult time.

·       It usually takes older workers at least two times longer than younger workers to find new employment.

The Social Security Offset is State-Supported Age Discrimination

·       Employers pay into the employment fund for every eligible worker regardless of the worker’s age.

·       Employers don’t get a discount for older workers.

·       Older workers should receive their full unemployment payments regardless of their age.

Information for the Social Security Retirement Pay Task Force

·       The information from the U.S. Dept. of Labor task force members received on May 7 stated – incorrectly -- that the Virgin Islands, South Dakota and Minnesota had not repealed the offset. They had; Minnesota’s repeal has conditions. The Dept. of Labor has been notified.

·       Legislation to repeal the offset has been introduced to the Illinois General Assembly every year since 2002. None of them made it through the agreed bill process to the legislature floor for debate and decision.

·       There were more than 40 co-signers on the bipartisan offset repeal legislation in the Illinois House and Senate in 2011. Instead of allowing the legislation to move forward, the Social Security Retirement Pay Task Force was formed – delaying offset repeal legislation for at least one more year.

·       Because the task force didn’t meet until 2012 as instructed, action on offset repeal legislation has been delayed yet another year.

Lobbyists Control the Agreed Bill Process

·       The agreed bill process is an Illinois invention that controls which unemployment and workers compensation bills will be allowed to be presented to the legislature for debate and decision.

·       Over time, lobbyists from labor and business have come to dominate the agreed bill process, often meeting privately without any legislators present.

·       Labor decided to withdraw its opposition to offset repeal in 2011.

·       Business continues to oppose offset repeal, insisting that it will cause an increase in employment taxes.

·       Offset repeal has NEVER caused an increase in employment taxes.

Offset Task Force Meetings Concerns

·       The members of the Social Security Retirement Pay Task Force were supposed to be appointed in 2012, hold at least three public hearings and submit recommendations to the legislature in December 2012.

·       The last task force members were finally appointed in 2013, delaying action for another year.

·       The May 7, 2013, meeting was surprisingly labeled the first public hearing. There were no public comments.

·       Only state legislators can repeal the offset. However, the only state legislator able to attend the May 7 meeting was Representative Kelly Cassidy, the sponsor of the offset repeal bill, HB3042.

·       The second meeting for June 20 was posted June 18 under News and Announcements on the IDES website. It was not posted on the IDES Events and Workshops calendar.