Frequently Asked Questions

Send this article to a friend.

Printer friendly version.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is TREA Senior Citizens League the only senior organization to lobby for Notch Reform?

A: Shortly after the Commission on the Social Security "Notch" Issue released its 1994 report supporting "no change" for Notch babies, TREA Senior Citizens League (TSCL) became the only large national senior organization to continue lobbying for Notch Reform. There are a few smaller Notch organizations in various parts of the country. TSCL has 1.3 million members and supporters, the majority of whom are affected by the Notch. Our membership ranks Notch Reform as our top legislative priority.

Recently, the Social Security Administration released a letter to the editor in the North Country Times in California. The letter implied that organizations that lobby for Notch Reform are "duping" seniors by pleading for a "fix" for something that is not "broken". The letter pointed to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) as having said "there is no notch inequity and they (AARP) do not support any Notch legislation."

Indeed, AARP is on the record as having, (in their own words), a "long-standing opposition" to Notch Reform. In 1994, AARP testified to the Commission on the Social Security "Notch" Issue that, "AARP believes legislation to change current law is unnecessary. Those born from 1917 through 1921 are not being cheated. They receive a fair benefit-one that is consistent with the intent of the Social Security program. In most cases, persons born during these so-called Notch years actually enjoy a more generous rate of return than those born later."

The non-partisan research arm of Congress, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), however, pinpoints three factors that are responsible for causing the disparity in benefits of those born during the Notch period:

A rapid transition to the new benefit formula which affected 82% of new retirees by the end of the third year of enactment despite a 5-year transition period.
The new wage-indexed benefit formula benefited future retirees more than those in the process of retiring or just about to retire, as Notch babies were doing.
The unanticipated affects of inflation that jumped from 6% in 1976-1977 to 13-14% in 1980.

Unlike AARP, TSCL maintains that Congress did not intend the benefit disparities, which in some cases can exceed $200 per month. Although aspects of the 1977 law changes were deliberate in design, and lower benefits were expected, legislative history does not show that Congress understood or considered they would cause such great benefit disparities between those affected by the old and new rules. TSCL further maintains that as U.S. citizens and voters, it is the right of our membership and all those born during the Notch period to continue to seek a legislative solution to the Notch benefit disparities. TSCL is pledged to carry out this mission.

Sources: Letter to the Editor from Thomas R. Margenau, Director of Public Affairs, Social Security Administration, North County Times, July 3, 20000. "Statement by the American Association of Retired Persons to the Commission on the Social Security Notch Issue, September 16, 1994. "Social Security Notch Debate," by David Koitz and Geoffrey Kollmann, CRS Issue Brief, February 24, 1995.

This article first appeared in Volume 6, Issue 1 of "The Social Security and Medicare Advisor" newsletter (November/2000). To receive future editions of "The Advisor" in its special, free e-mail version, please click here.