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Passing responsibilities down to lower levels of government should be undertaken primarily to place services closer to the people being served and to maximize administrative

Congress should allocate sufficient funding to strengthen the administrative capacity of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to better meet the needs of applicants and beneficiaries. 

The number of years used to calculate benefits should not be increased beyond the 35 years designated in current law.

Policymakers should retain wage indexing of both the Average Indexed Monthly Earnings and the thresholds used in the formula for the Primary Insurance Amount. 

Policymakers must maintain adequate funding rules for defined-benefit pension plans.

Employers should be required to keep plan participants informed adequately and in a timely manner about the state of plan funding.

The Department of Labor must stringently enforce fiduciary rules to ensure that pensions are handled prudently and in the best interest of plan participants and beneficiarie

Public retirement systems should establish a maximum vesting period of five years for DB plans and one year for employers’ matching contributions to defined contribution or hybrid plans. 

Minimum distribution requirements for retirement savings should periodically be examined to reflect changes in life expectancy and income needs at older ages while ensuring the collection of deferr

Deficit-reduction efforts should avoid cuts in programs that serve low- and moderate-income populations. 

States should not tie essential spending programs to unstable revenue sources.