The senators co-wrote an op-ed that proposes lifting the payroll tax cap. 

U.S. Senators Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) recently co-authored an op-ed on their work to improve Social Security’s solvency. 

The pair have proposed lifting the payroll tax cap, which they say would generate substantial revenue for the program. 

“According to one estimate, eliminating the payroll tax cap would inject around $3 trillion into the program over the next 10 years. Lifting the cap so that all income is treated the same would generate substantial revenue that would extend the solvency of Social Security for another generation,” said Moreno and Warren in their joint op-ed. 

Both senators are members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. 

The report cited in the op-ed comes from the trustees who oversee Social Security’s trust funds. The op-ed notes that without action from Congress, the fund from which most Social Security beneficiaries are paid will be depleted by late 2032. Estimates show that this would lead to potential benefit cuts of more than 20%. 

“Instead of cutting benefits for the retirees who count on Social Security, we need to take bipartisan action to protect those benefits, reward work and restore fairness,” said the op-ed. “That starts with a common-sense solution: lifting the Social Security payroll tax cap.”

The payroll tax cap sits at $184,500 per year. Workers and their employers each pay 6.2% on wages up to that amount. Self-employed individuals pay 12.4%. 

Social security withholding for one worker on the maximum amount is $22,878, or 12.4%. 

Individuals who pay more than the maximum are not required to pay Social Security payroll taxes on the extra income. 

Approximately 6% of workers who have a higher income than the level where Social Security payroll taxes are capped, according to the Social Security Administration. 

“Since the vast majority of Americans make less than that, most people are paying Social Security taxes on 100% of their earnings while the highest earners are paying only part of theirs,” Moreno and Warren wrote in their op-ed. 

Past efforts to lift or remove the Social Security payroll tax cap were not successful due to political gridlock. Disagreements over whether higher earners should get higher payouts contributed to the gridlock. 

In the op-ed, Moreno and Warren posed the hypothetical of a middle-class nurse having to pay a larger share of her paycheck than a wealthy corporate lawyer. 

“This is doubly unfair in an economy in which top earners’ wages, over time, have pulled far ahead of those of the average worker.”

Moreno and Warren united to advocate for eliminating the cap. 

“This is a no-brainer: The wealthiest Americans, who have benefited the most from America’s opportunities, should contribute the same percentage of their income as a factory worker in Chillicothe, Ohio, or a teacher in Worcester, Massachusetts.”