ASSEMBLY AGING AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 168
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MARCH 17, 2025
The Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee reports
favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Resolution No.
168.
As amended by the committee, this resolution respectfully urges
the United States Congress to enact legislation allowing individuals
with disabilities to retain federal disability benefits upon marriage.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers two
disability related programs known as Supplemental Security Income
(SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). SSI is a
need-based program that provides financial assistance to disabled
individuals, as well as seniors, with limited income and resources,
regardless of their work history. SSDI provides benefits, based on
an individual's work history and Social Security taxes paid, to
individuals with disabilities that stop or limit their ability to work.
The SSA recently recognized Patrice Jetter and Garry Wickham,
subjects of “Patrice: The Movie”, a documentary that focuses on the
couple’s concerns about losing their disability benefits if they were
to get married. The movie highlights how changes to the asset limit
and related marriage rules can only be made by Congress because
those have been set by statute.
In 2024, the SSA issued a public statement acknowledging that
some of the policies enforced by the administration are antiquated
and should be updated to reflect the modern day needs of
individuals living with disabilities and receiving disability benefits.
Along with the public statement, the SSA enacted three SSI
enhancements, highlighted in the resolution, that are estimated to
lead to new or increased SSI payments for hundreds of thousands of
Americans with disabilities.
In order to implement effective changes to the SSA’s policies
concerning SSI and SSDI, Congress should take action to enact
legislation concerning these two programs that would allow
individuals with disabilities to retain their federal disability benefits
upon marriage. 2
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
The committee amendments include language in the preamble to
specify the enhancements implemented by the SSA estimated to lead
to new or increased SSI payments for individuals with disabilities.
The committee amendments update statistics cited in the
resolution relating to the percentage of New Jerseyans with
disabilities.
The committee amendments make various technical corrections
involving grammar, syntax, and punctuation.