Democratic lawmakers on March 16 fell short in their effort to get members on Congress to cast votes regarding proposals to make personal investment accounts a part of Social Security.

Democrats sought to bring to a vote an amendment to the House budget resolution asserting that money from the Social Security trust fund should not be used to establish personal accounts. Though the provision would have been non-binding, GOP lawmakers were wary of going on the record about the controversial proposal and a vote on whether to take up the question failed, 230-202. Only one Democrat, Rep. Allen Boyd of Florida, voted with Republicans on the prevailing side.

On the other side of the Capitol, meanwhile, senators voted 100-0 in favor of a non-binding resolution urging all parties to "work together" to design a "solvent and permanently sustainable Social Security system." The Senate rejected a Democratic proposal expressing the sentiment that Social Security reform should not result in deep benefit cuts or higher deficits.

At the White House, President Bush said that his administration will not submit a formal legislative proposal to reform Social Security but said that, instead, he wants to work with members of Congress to craft a bill. Bush also acknowledged that "personal accounts do not solve the issue" of the program's long-term shortfall and mentioned a financing reform suggested by Robert Pozen, a former Fidelity Investments executive and member of the 2001 Commission to Strengthen Social Security that was empaneled by Bush. Social Security cost-of-living adjustments are now tied to the national growth in wages, which makes them much higher than if they were pegged to price inflation. Pozen has proposed using the price index for retirees with incomes of more than $113,000 and a mix of the wage and price indexes for those with incomes of more than $25,000 but less than $113,000. For individuals earning $25,000 or less, the more generous wage index would be used. This would eliminate about half of the $3.7 trillion deficit projected in Social Security over the next 75 years.