R Street Supports Inclusion of the TRUST Act in Coronavirus Relief Legislation
The R Street Institute supports the bipartisan, bicameral Time to Rescue the United States’ Trusts (TRUST) Act. Sponsored in the Senate by Senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and in the House by Representatives Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Ed Case (D-Hawaii), William Timmons (R-S.C.) and Ben McAdams (D-Utah), the TRUST Act would establish a process for restoring and strengthening endangered federal trust funds.
Funds such as Social Security, Medicare and Highway trust funds are headed toward fiscal crisis and will soon be insolvent. The TRUST Act would establish commissions that would be responsible for acting in a bipartisan manner to restore solvency and improve these and other endangered trust funds.
R Street Vice President of Research Partnerships, Kevin Kosar, explains: “Congress has long delayed facing this fiscal crisis. The TRUST Act is a bold and brave step toward solving the problem before it becomes a calamity for our nation.”
Congress has already authorized more than $3 trillion for coronavirus relief and is likely to authorize significantly more deficit spending in future rounds of pandemic-related legislation. In light of this, any additional spending to mitigate the economic effects of the pandemic should be coupled with provisions that address longer-term deficits. Including the TRUST Act in the next round of coronavirus relief is one solution to ensure that lawmakers do not recklessly add to the federal deficit without accounting for the future consequences.
R Street’s Director of Fiscal and Budget Policy, Jonathan Bydlak, adds: “With so much funding recently distributed based on the pandemic, it’s important for Congress to assess the state of federal spending and revenues across the board. The solvency of federal trust funds is an important part of that picture, and emphasizing bipartisan solutions to expected shortfalls is a welcome first step.”
