
(NewsGlobal.com)- Utah Senator Mitt Romney is still trying to get his Medicare and Social Security reform bill, the TRUST Act passed. To that end, his Senate website is featuring a recent interview Romney did with Maya MacGuineas, the president of Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
You can watch the interview on Romney’s website HERE.
Romney first introduced the Time to Rescue United States’ Trusts (TRUST) Act in 2019 ostensibly to address the coming insolvency of Social Security which is expected to run out of money by 2032.
Romney’s bill would create separate bipartisan “rescue committees” for the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Social Security Disability Trust Fund, the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Funds, and the Highway Trust Fund.
These “rescue committees” would be tasked with creating legislation to implement the changes necessary to keep these programs solvent. The committees would have 180 days to present their proposals to Congress. Any bills created in these committees would then be fast-tracked to a vote in both the House and the Senate through an expedited process.
Romney’s TRUST Act has bipartisan support in the Senate. Republicans who have signed on include Todd Young of Indiana, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Rob Portman of Ohio, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.
Democratic sponsors include Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, and Mark Warner of Virginia. Independent Senator Angus King of Maine also backs the bill.
Not everyone, however, is on board with Romney’s plan. Senior Citizen advocacy groups believe the TRUST Act is a trojan horse intended to gut Social Security and Medicare.
Max Richtman, the president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare said last year that the TRUST Act is a backdoor to cutting benefits.
Richtman said the normal legislative process, including discussion and debate, as well as allowing testimony from outside witnesses during committee hearings will be circumvented by the expedited fast-track process outlined in the TRUST Act.