Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.
Well, earlier this week, I was proud to sign a proclamation officially commemorating the 90th Anniversary of Social Security in our country. You know, the Social Security Act was based on a simple promise: working people who paid into the program would receive their wages back in the form of retirement benefits. Congress has amended the Social Security Act time and again to honor that promise, including the bipartisan Social Security Fairness Act.
For years, I've been proud to stand by your side in calling for Congress to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — those laws, which prevented public service employees from receiving their full Social Security benefits — and the need to right this wrong.
For decades, bipartisan members of Maine's Congressional Delegation have pushed strongly to get this legislation across the finish line. Finally, on January 5 of this year, President Biden signed it into law — the law restoring full benefits to about 25,000 public service workers in the State of Maine and their survivors.
One retired state employee named Penny estimated that she and her husband, who was a firefighter, were losing about $1,200 dollars a month in Social Security benefits before the Social Security Fairness Act was passed. It's not fair, and I'm glad that it's finally been fixed.
There are many people like Penny in our state who rely on Social Security for financial stability in their retirement. Maine is the oldest and most rural state in the nation. Nearly 370,000 people in our state collect Social Security benefits of one sort or another. That includes seniors, and people with disabilities, and families who are navigating the loss of a loved one. Many of them are in rural communities: 43 percent of households in Aroostook, 45 percent of households in Washington County, 43 percent of households in Piscataquis, and 35 percent of households in Androscoggin County have someone in the household who's receiving Social Security benefits.
The financial stability of many people in Maine depends on Social Security. But the current administration in Washington, D.C., has created deep uncertainty about its future.
For months, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or "DOGE," was given free reign over sensitive government agencies, including Social Security. They threatened to slash Social Security staff by the thousands, reduce services available over the phone, and close field offices that serve our rural areas.
Adding to that chaos, there have been five different people heading up the Social Security Administration just over the last ten months, including some people who recklessly rolled out and then rolled back administrative changes that left citizens confused and waiting for help.
Maine people frustrated with waiting on the phone might choose to drive for hours to a Social Security office in person, only to wind up waiting in line for hours there anyway. One claims representative recently said that the wait time at her office in Auburn has gone from 16 minutes to an hour and a half.
Older people in Maine should not be afraid of losing their Social Security benefits or be in the dark about changes. They also shouldn't have to worry about their Medicare benefits, but I'll tell you, the reconciliation bill recently passed by Congress and signed by President Trump, creates a huge deficit in the federal budget that may well require across the board cuts in the federal budget, including Medicare, unless Congress acts. It's a completely unnecessary scare that older people relying on Social Security and Medicare shouldn't have to face.
Maine people have earned these benefits. The federal government should stand by its commitment to them.
So, as we reflect on the 90th Anniversary of the Social Security Act – and think about our heroine, Frances Perkins, who helped FDR draft and enact this important measure – I urge the administration in Washington, D.C., to restore stability to the Social Security Administration and to recommit to the promise of Social Security for the everlasting benefit of all Americans.
This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.