WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) released the following statement on tax reform’s implications on Social Security:

“The Social Security Trustees Report used an outdated economic forecast—creating the mistaken impression that we have weaker growth outlook in 2018 than we did last year. By any economic measure, that is patently false. Tax reform has boosted growth, raised wages, and increased payroll tax revenues. That is good for Social Security. But none of those pro-growth effects are even reflected in this report. 

“This process is clearly flawed and needs transparency. That’s why yesterday the Ways and Means Committee asked GAO to look into the process of how these reports are developed. The Trustees Reports provide critical information about these important programs and we need to be sure they are being done right.”

Note: The nonpartisan CBO says that tax reform will increase GDP by $1.7 trillion and raise wages by $1.2 trillion which will provide new payroll tax revenues. The CBO projected that faster growth between the June 2017 and April 2018 baselines would result in $92 billion in additional payroll tax revenues. Based on analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation payroll tax revenues will increase by $300 billion, thanks to faster growth from tax reform.