Congress asked to add SSI for V.I.
Published: January 28, 2012
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There are now two bills before Congress that, if enacted, would extend the Supplemental Security Income program to the territory.
The SSI program is a federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues - not Social Security Taxes - designed to help elderly, blind or disabled people who have little or no income and resources by providing cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing and shelter.
The territory has never been included in the program.
V.I. Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen has introduced legislation in every Congress since the 105th, which met from 1997 to 1999, to extend the program to the Virgin Islands and Guam. The current meeting of Congress - the 112th - is no exception.
This week Puerto Rico's delegate to Congress, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, also introduced legislation that would extend the SSI program to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa. Christensen is a co-sponsor of that bill as well.
Christensen is welcoming the second piece of legislation from Pierluisi, according to a press release her office released Thursday.
Christensen told The Daily News on Friday that the inclusion of Puerto Rico in Pierluisi's bill is an advantage and a disadvantage.
Puerto Rico has been left out of the legislation she offered for various reasons - but mostly because Puerto Rico brings its 4 million residents into the equation, and therefore additional costs that could prove to be an obstacle to passage, Christensen said.
"It bumps up the number tremendously, because they have 4 million people, and they have a fair amount of disability there," she said.
However, she said, with all those people, Puerto Rico also has more residents living in the states and brings a political force into the picture.
"Puerto Rico does bring political clout to it. They bring a drawback and they bring an advantage," Christensen said. "Right now, I'm not sure whether the advantage outweighs the disadvantage."
The Northern Mariana Islands are not included in either bill because they do not participate in SSI. Christensen said the Northern Marianas did this by forgoing participation in another federal program in which the Virgin Islands does participate, the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program.
Considering the current political and economic climate in Washington, D.C., Christensen does not think either bill stands much chance of passage.
"It's very hard to see them having success anytime in the near future, until we get out of the recession and start to realize some of the savings in the Affordable Care Act," she said.
In the meantime, she said, she plans to push for more money from the Aid to the Aged, Blind and Disabled program to the territory.
- Contact Joy Blackburn at 714-9145 or email jblackburn@dailynews.vi.
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