Supplemental Security Income

Legislated in 1972 as title XVI of the Social Security Act (Public Law 92-603), the SSI program began in 1974 to better meet the needs of poor aged, blind, and disabled people by unifying the wide-ranging state and local programs. SSI established a uniform, federally provided, base benefit and gave the states the option to supplement that base.

In essence, SSI reversed the federal and state roles in providing assistance to needy aged, blind, and disabled people. Henceforth the federal government would be responsible for

• • Funding a basic benefit for aged, blind, and disabled people
• • Administering a uniform standard for eligibility and benefits based on ‘‘facts that can be objectively determined’’ (i.e., level and type of resources and degree of disability or blindness)
• • Offering an efficient way of providing benefits
• • Providing ‘‘very substantial’’ fiscal relief to the states and localities.

The state governments would be responsible only for supplementing the federal benefit as they saw fit to meet the needs of their populations.