Theres a new political odd couple in Washington as a conservative Florida Republican is teaming up with a liberal Democrat from the West Coast to ensure the Social Security Administration (SSA) cant go after Americans who were overpaid due to the federal governments mistakes.
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., who in recent weeks was named to the Social Security Subcommittee of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, joined up on the Stop Punishing Innocent Americans Act on Wednesday.
It is just plain wrong to hold Americans responsible for decades-old mistakes made by the Social Security Administration or members of their family, Boxer said. This bipartisan legislation will protect taxpayers from having their tax refunds seized because of these decades-old errors, which were often made when taxpayers were children.
Its a simple matter of fairness, said Buchanan on Wednesday. Children should not be punished for the governments failure to correctly determine their benefits.
Boxer and Buchanan are looking to ensure the SSA cant pursue overpayments, including seizing tax returns, that are more than a decade old. That had been federal policy until 2008 when the decade limitation was altered in a provision to the Farm Bill.
Last year, Boxer teamed up with U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and wrote to SSA Acting Commissioner Carolyn Colvin regarding the agency demanding Americans pay back the federal government from SSA overpayments to family members, some of whom received the overpayments back in the 1970s.
Buchanan was also working on the matter last year. Back in May, he introduced the Stop Punishing Innocent Taxpayers Act which would have restored a statute of limitations on federal debts to a 10-year period.
This is a simple matter of fairness, Buchanan said when he proposed his bill back in May. Taxpayers should not be punished because the government miscalculated the federal benefits for their parents.
Buchanan reeled in 20 co-sponsors from both parties, including fellow Florida Republican U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Mario Diaz-Balart, David Jolly, Jeff Miller, Rich Nugent, Bill Posey, Tom Rooney, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Ted Yoho.
According to reports last year, around 400,000 Americans who owe around $714 million from Social Security overpayments are being investigated by the federal government.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
