Could you survive on your 1989 salary? Of course not, but that is what the Social Security Administration asks people with SSI to do. The asset limits – the maximum amount you can save and still quality for SSI – have been frozen at $2,000 since 1989. 

This needs to change and we ask you to support the bipartisan Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Savings Penalty Elimination Act, which would increase asset limits to $10,000 for individual beneficiaries, $20,000 for married couples, and annually adjust for inflation. 

Choosing Between Work and Benefits 

I write this as the father of a man with Down syndrome. I also write as an employer of people with differing abilities. More than half our colleagues at John’s Crazy Socks have a differing ability. Too often, our colleagues must choose between work and benefits. If they work too many hours and therefore, make too much money, they lose their benefits. That means they lose their SSI benefits, but more importantly, they lose their health care benefits. 

This is an awful situation. We talk about the value of work and the virtues of employment, yet the SSI limits encourage people not to work. Limiting savings to $2,000 is absurd, especially when you realize this limit was set in 1989. 

We need policies that encourage work. At John’s Crazy Socks, we offer people four-hour shifts so they can plan around their SSI benefits. What sense does it make for the government to lead people to work less, to be more dependent?  We understand offsetting cash payments with earned income, but removing health benefits leaves people stranded. 

The SSI Asset Levels Are Anti-Marriage Too

The current asset limit is particularly onerous for two SSI beneficiaries who choose to marry. My son John is currently single yet at age 27, he looks forward to a time when he can find the right partner and marry. Yet the SSI asset level set in 1989 limits married couples to a combined $3,000 in savings. That’s right, the levels are less than if the couple remained single and apart.  The current asset limits not only hinder the ability of a married couple to save money but create an incentive to remain single. This incentive runs counter to every government initiative that promotes the benefits of marriage. 

Change Is on the Horizon

The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Savings Penalty Elimination Act, which would increase asset limits to $10,000 for individual beneficiaries, $20,000 for married couples, and annually adjust for inflation. This is a step in the right direction. 

Take Action to Change the SSI Asset Levels  

We are working with the CEO Commission for Disability Employment and the National Down Syndrome Society to bring about this change. John and I have written to the bill’s leads sponsors (Senators Sherrod Brown and Bill Cassidy, M.D. and Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick and Brian Higgins) and we are writing to our representatives in Congress. You can do the same. Make your voice heard. (We have pasted our letter below. Feel free to copy it.)

This is an equity issue. The current law discriminates against people with a disability. These are our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our classmates and neighbors. They deserve the ability to earn a living and to reap the benefits of their labor. And we need them to have that opportunity to contribute as full citizens to society. 

About John’s Crazy Socks 

John’s Crazy Socks was inspired by John Lee Cronin, a young man with Down syndrome, and his love of colorful and fun socks—what he calls his “crazy socks.” He and his father, Mark X. Cronin, started the company as a social enterprise with a mission of Spreading Happiness™. With more than 4,000 socks, John’s Crazy Socks is now the world’s largest sock store. More than half their employees have a differing ability, and their Giving Back program has raised over $650,000 for charity partners like the Special Olympics, the National Down Syndrome Society, and the Autism Society of America. Most of all, they are Spreading Happiness™. 

For more information about John’s Crazy Socks, visit our webpage, Facebook page, Instagram account, TikTok or YouTube channel. You can also contact us at 631-760-5625 or via email at service@johnscrazysocks.com.

Dear Senators Brown and Cassidy and Representatives Fitzpatrick and Higgins:

We write to you in strong support of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Savings Penalty Elimination Act, which would increase asset limits to $10,000 for individual beneficiaries, $20,000 for married couples, and annually adjust for inflation. 

We write to offer multiple perspectives on the need for this legislation. John is a twenty-seven-year-old entrepreneur with Down syndrome. Mark is his father. Together, we founded a business, John’s Crazy Socks, where more than half our colleagues have a differing ability. Our business has a mission to show what people with differing abilities can achieve. Thus, we see this bill from the perspective of an individual with a differing ability, a parent and an employer. 

Independence is a key virtue in our lives. As a parent, I worked to promote the independence of our three sons including John. John has spent much of his life preparing for his independence and working to achieve it. And at John’s Crazy Socks, we promote the benefits of employing people with differing abilities. Yet the current SSI asset levels undermine the independence of people with a disability. 

So many of our colleagues are forced to choose between work and their benefits. If they work too many hours, they will lose their jobs. We have people who want to work more but are afraid to do so because of the SSI limits. We all talk about the value of work and our desire to promote the virtues of employment, yet the current income and asset rules undermine the independence and employment that we all claim to support. 

It is absurd that the current SSI asset limit has not been increased since 1989. Would any of you like to survive on your 1989 salary? The current $2,000 limit is an obstacle for those people with a disability who strive to live independently, save money and improve the quality of their lives. 

The current asset limit is particularly onerous for two SSI beneficiaries who choose to marry. John is currently single yet at age 27, he looks forward to a time when he can find the right partner and marry. Yet the SSI asset level set in 1989 limits married couples to a combined $3,000 in savings. That’s right, the levels are less than if the couple remained single and apart.   The current asset limits not only hinder the ability of a married couple to save money but create an incentive to remain single. This incentive runs counter to every government initiative that promotes the benefits of marriage. 

It is well past time that we raise the SSI asset levels and then tie them to rate of inflation so that we end this policy that undermines the independence of people with differing abilities. We urge the Congress to pass the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Savings Penalty Elimination Act. 

Please let us know what we can do to assist in the passage of this bill.

Regards,