Democrats are holding the first hearing in 23 years on a measure to lift the elderly and disabled out of poverty

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).
Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

The Senate is holding a hearing on improving Supplemental Security Income for the first time in 23 years.
SSI's maximum benefits, provided to the elderly and disabled, currently fall below the poverty line.
Sen. Sherrod Brown wants to boost those benefits in Democrats' social spending bill.
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For the first time in over two decades, a critical benefit for the low-income elderly and severely disabled is getting a hearing in the Senate.

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program provides monthly checks to nearly 8 million Americans who have a disability or are over the age of 65 and are low-income. The maximum federal SSI benefit of $794 per month is $279 below the federal poverty level and some Democrats want to lift it higher.

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who reintroduced the Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act in June, is leading Tuesday's hearing of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy to discuss improvements to the program.

The last time Senate held a hearing on the issue was in 1998, when monthly SSI payments were $494, which fell below the Dept. of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines even at the time.

Brown is pushing to get the proposals in the bill - like increasing SSI benefits to 100% above the poverty level for individuals - included in Democrats' $3.5 trillion social spending bill.

"The promise of Social Security is to ensure that no one in America should live in poverty - least of all our nation's seniors and people with disabilities," Brown said in a statement, adding that "Congress must prioritize these long-overdue reforms as part of upcoming recovery legislation."

Insider reported earlier this month that Brown's proposal to boost SSI benefits would lift 3.3 million people out of poverty and cut the poverty rate of SSI recipients by more than half, citing the Urban Institute.

Disability advocates lauded the senate hearing. Rebecca Vallas, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, wrote on Twitter that the hearing is "historic," given that the last Senate hearing on SSI was in 1998 and the last hearing on SSI's eligibility criteria was in 1987.

Mia Ives-Rublee, director of the Disability Justice Initiative and the Center for American Progress, who is testifying at the hearing, wrote on Twitter that restoring the program will "fulfill its original intent" of lifting those burdened by economic hardship out of poverty.

The Democrats' $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill includes other measures to address poverty, like giving families with children monthly checks through an extended child tax credit. But the size of the bill has some more moderate Democrats concerned, and given that fully funding Brown's bill would require about $510 billion in new spending, according to the Social Security Administration, its inclusion won't be easy.

But, as Brown wrote in a letter to the Social Security Administration, raising asset limits would cost just $8 billion, showing potential for some of the measures in his bill to be included in the spending package if the whole proposal doesn't make the cut.

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