Bush budget cuts $255 death benefit

WASHINGTON – President Bush’s budget calls for elimination of a $255 lump-sum death payment that has been part of Social Security for more than 50 years and urges Congress to cut off monthly survivor benefits to 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts.

If approved, the two proposals would save a combined $3.4 billion over the next decade, according to administration estimates.

Any attempt to reduce Social Security benefits – no matter how small – could face intense opposition in Congress in an election year.

“There they go again,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday of the administration. “They can’t resist trying to cut Social Security and to cut a survivor’s, a widow or widower’s benefits; it just shows how warped the priorities are in this budget.”

Mark Lassiter, a spokesman at the Social Security Administration, said the one-time $255 benefit is paid in the deaths of some Social Security recipients but not all, making it an administrative burden for the agency.

The second change Bush proposed would terminate monthly survivor benefits for 16- and 17-year-olds who do not attend school full time. Current law requires 18-year-olds to remain in school to receive their benefits.