Durbin says he'll introduce bill to form commission on Social Security

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he would introduce a bill soon that would create a commission to increase the solvency of Social Security.

“We need to take an honest look at entitlements,” Durbin said nearly 12 hours after the Senate passed a bill to avoid going over the “fiscal cliff.”

The package the Senate passed did not address spending cuts or entitlement reform, but these issues will likely come up in the next two months when the debt ceiling has to be raised.

“I’m preparing legislation to be introduced shortly to create a commission,” Durbin said on the floor Tuesday afternoon.

Durbin said the commission would be charged with coming up with a plan to increase Social Security solvency for 75 years. Currently, Social Security is supposed to remain solvent for 20 years.

The Senate-passed bill would extend the Bush-era tax rates for families making less than $450,000 and delays sequestration for two months. Originally, Republicans had proposed the inclusion of spending reductions by cutting the Social Security program with a chained consumer price index used to determine the level of inflation for benefits. Democrats successfully fought to have that part removed. 

Durbin said changes should also be made to Medicare and Medicaid, but did not offer any proposals.

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