As the mark-up of the Senate immigration begins in the Judiciary Committee tomorrow, advocates for reform got some very significant news today on the economic benefits of the bill. Via the WSJ’s Washington Wire:
The Senate immigration bill will help improve Social Security’s long-term solvency and reduce the number of immigrants entering the U.S. illegally, according to a Social Security Administration analysis.
On the heels of a Heritage Foundation report that criticized an immigration overhaul as a budget-buster that would cost trillions, the latest data could be a boon for immigration proponents who have touted the economic benefits of a Senate proposal.
The analysis concludes that the effect of the immigration bill “will be positive” for Social Security’s finances over the long-term. More workers will pay taxes and, eventually, will be eligible for retirement benefits, and “the additional births for the increased population under this bill will have substantial positive effects,” the Social Security Adminstration’s Chief Actuary Stephen Goss wrote in a letter to Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.).
The letter provides data about how the legislation would impact the U.S. population and Social Security’s finances over a decade. Mr. Goss said SSA was working to evaluate the legislation over a 75-year time frame.
The economic arguments are in our favor, and this information should preclude another avenue of attack from opponents. But of course, our opposition isn’t interested in facts. They’re on a mission to kill reform by any means possible. Just look at some of the absurd amendments offered by the likes of Jeff Sessions, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Chuck Grassley. As our Frank Sharry noted, “they want to slow-walk the bill in hopes of derailing it and to inject poison pill provisions to destroy the delicate balance the Senate Gang of 8 achieved in crafting their compromise legislation.”
Much of the immigration news today was about that flawed Heritage report was supposed to provide the economic arguments against reform–but which crashed and burned instead. This news about Social Security is actually game-changing.
