Reporters’ Sourcebook Offers Background on Social Security

For Immediate Release
Contact: Jill Braunstein
(202) 452-8097; jillbraun@nasi.org

To access the Reporters’ State of the Union Social Insurance Sourcebook, go to www.nasi.org.

WASHINGTON, DC – President Bush is expected to discuss his plans for private accounts under the Social Security system in his State of the Union address tonight. The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), a non-partisan group of experts, is making available on its website, www.nasi.org, a guide for reporters about the key issues in the Social Security debate. The Sourcebook also includes a list of experts to contact for more information. The contents of the Sourcebook were reviewed by a non-partisan Editorial Review Committee to ensure that the information meets NASI standards for accuracy, clarity, objectivity, and completeness.

NASI’s home page also includes a PowerPoint presentation on Social Security finances based on the 2004 report of the Social Security Trustees, developed by Virginia Reno, Vice President for Income Security, and details from a report that identifies key questions about payouts from private accounts at retirement, divorce, disability, and death. These questions have not been addressed in the debate so far but any social security privatization plan would have to answer them.

NASI’s members have submitted their views on reforming the Social Security program, which are now part of a forum called “Sounding Board.” The Sounding Board is meant to provide insights that will help further inform the debate and encourage the open exchange of ideas about Social Security.

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The National Academy of Social Insurance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization made up of the nation’s leading experts on social insurance. Its mission is to promote understanding and informed policymaking on social insurance and related programs through research, public education, training, and the open exchange of ideas.