Testimony in Review—Jonathan Bydlak’s Appearance Before the Senate Special Committee on Aging

Last week, Resident Senior Fellow and Director of R Street’s Governance Program Jonathan Bydlak testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging at its hearing, titled “Before Disaster Strikes: Planning for Older Americans and People with Disabilities in All Phases of Emergencies.” The timing of the hearing was quite fortuitous, as it was scheduled shortly after the release of Bydlak’s recent paper on the broader topic of federal emergency planning: “The Known Unknowns: Planning for the Next Emergencies.”

Bydlak’s written and oral testimony, which draws heavily from this paper as well as his many years of research on the topic, made the case that the federal government has done a poor job planning for emergencies, and that elderly and disabled Americans disproportionately bear the consequences of this lack of planning. From the rising cost of living to the growing threat that massive off-budget spending will “jeopardize the very programs that elderly and disabled Americans rely on” (e.g., Social Security and Medicare), it is imperative the policymakers use the lessons learned from our most recent major national emergency—the COVID-19 pandemic—to ensure we are better prepared for the next crisis.

To provide context, Bydlak pointed out that, since the year 2000, unforeseen expenditures in response to crises ranging from the 9/11 attacks to the COVID-19 pandemic have totaled more than $15 trillion. This amount constitutes “well north” of 50 percent of the $26 trillion that has been added to our national debt over the past two-plus decades. In addition, citing a recent investigative report by CBS News, Bydlak stated that “it is seniors and disabled Americans who disproportionately experience a substantial burden from [the] rising cost of living.” Bydlak argued that the lack of planning has contributed to the precipitous rise in the powers of the presidency as Congress routinely grants the presidency special powers long beyond the period of initial crisis.

Several potential solutions were discussed throughout the hearing. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), the committee’s ranking member, specifically asked Bydlak what he thought of the merits of creating a “rainy day fund,” such as the senator’s own S. 718 and similar to that which exists in several states and countries abroad. Bydlak spoke favorably of the idea and discussed additional ideas that should be explored, such as a “Swiss-style” debt break, which limits expenditures as a function of expected revenues over time.

Other policy proposals discussed included options for incentivizing additional savings by individuals so that those closest to an emergency can respond with the speed and precision that often eludes government. Here, Bydlak applauded Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-Pa.) championship of the previously enacted ABLE and SECURE 2.0 Acts, and urged the panel and Congress to consider additional options, such as allowing for additional flexibility of Health Savings Accounts, waiving taxation of Social Security benefits for a period of time, or temporarily suspending required distributions from individual retirement accounts.

With respect to the increase of presidential powers, Bydlak urged the panel to reassert congressional authority soon after the period of initial crisis has passed. Bydlak noted in his written testimony that “[a]s recent history shows, it is easy for Congress to defer to executive power and allow emergencies to extend far beyond the initial event, and current rules encourage this situation.” One promising bipartisan, bicameral proposal that seeks to address this problem is Sen. Mike Lee’s (R-Utah) “ARTICLE ONE Act” (S. 1912), which would automatically sunset any presidential emergency declaration after 30 days unless Congress explicitly votes to extend it. Sens. Braun and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)—both members of the Aging Committee—are among the bill’s co-sponsors.

Encouragingly, Sen. Braun’s closing remarks could have been Bydlak’s own. The senator reiterated that now is the time for Congress to implement better budgetary planning and for curtailing prolonged, special grants of executive power:

…with the COVID pandemic well in submission, we have a golden opportunity, as we discussed, to implement lessons learned and better prepare for the next inevitable occurrence …. We can do it better the next time around, it just takes some backbone and some foresight. Protecting older adults and people with disabilities in emergencies is a non-partisan issue, and planning ahead to do so should be non-partisan as well.