REPORT: 2M Illinoisans face $500 cut as Social Security faces cliff

By Sean Reed
The Center Square

New data and reports from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget have shown that if no legislative action is taken soon, Social Security could run out of money as soon as 2032.

Other recently released data from within the federal government reflected the projection agreed the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance funds are now set to run dry a year sooner than anticipated.

Roughly 2.1 million Illinois retirees, or 16.5% of the state population, who receive benefits would be impacted by a statutory cut to benefits if the program goes insolvent, according to Ben Tomchik, vice president with the CRFB.

That cut would result in a newly estimated $507 reduction in benefit payments per month for Illinoisans, based on previous years data.

Tomchik told The Center Square that work to find a solution in Congress needs to happen soon.

“We have to agree that any solution has to be bipartisan in nature. Seventy million Americans receive benefits as a part of social security. For 40% of seniors, it makes up the majority of their income. So, both parties have to come together on a solution,” Tomchik said.

Tomchik said the process to finding a solution isn’t new, and lawmakers can look to the last time Social Security faced insolvency, which was in the 1980s under President Ronald Regan.

“This is where you would have members from both parties come together along with outside experts. They would look at the problem, what is driving social security’s fiscal challenges, and then put forward a series of solutions,” Tomchik said.

The Greenspan Commission, organized in 1981 under Reagan, did exactly what Tomchik described.

Two congressmen, U.S. Reps. Tom Cole, R-OK, and Tom Suozzi, D-NY, introduced House Resolution 9187 early last week to create a current day commission similar to that of the 1980s.

As for specific solutions, Tomchik said a few considerations may be raising the cap on how much money Americans pay into the program, lift the payroll tax cap, or the limiting of benefits.

“The good thing with Social Security is that there’s a ton of options to save the program. The bad thing is we just need leaders who have the political courage to do it,” Tomchik said.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., co-signed a letter to President Donald Trump this week that criticized his administration’s handling of Social Security, such as policies in HR1, or the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a tax and spending package.

Federal trustees that oversee the program’s status attributed the projection to some of the same problems Duckworth cited, including reduced projected immigration levels and policies within HR1.

One consideration within the Trump administration Duckworth sought clarity on in the letter is a potential increase on the age of eligibility.

Multiple members of the administration have floated a potential change to the retirement age, which is currently set at age 67, including Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano.

Bisignano floated the idea before the SSA walked it back in a post on the social platform X.

SSA Commissioner Bisignano is committed to protecting and preserving Social Security.SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano said, “Let me be clear: President Trump and I will always protect, and never cut, Social Security. That’s why we have made many vital reforms, such as cutting…— Social Security (@SocialSecurity) September 19, 2025

In the post, the commissioner also reiterated that both he and Trump seek to protect Social Security recipients, rather than making cuts.

Bisignano went on to later tell Fox News that he instead planned to cut wasteful spending and target fraudulent and abusive payments.

“Under the Trump Administration, Social Security is serving more Americans better, faster, and with higher quality. We have made it a priority to have a pristine control environment and to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse,” Bisigano said in a statement last week.

Tomchik told The Center Square that Illinoisans interested in securing future funds that they have paid into during their careers should pay attention to congressional candidates running in the November general elections.

He noted that the next elected U.S. senator from Illinois will serve a term that will end the same year as when benefit payments would be reduced.