Social Security Bill Looks In To Increase Benefits By $2400
Woman charged FILE PHOTO: A woman living in Las Vegas is accused of dismembering her husband and throwing him in the trash, continuing to collect his Social Security benefits.
Congressman Peter DeFazio and Senator Bernie Sanders introduced joint legislation, the Social Security Expansion Act , to strengthen and expand Social Security.
The bill was introduced June 9, after Social Security and Medicare trustees released their annual report saying Americans will stop receiving their full Social Security benefits in about 13 years if lawmakers dont act.
As a trained gerontologist, I have devoted my career to protecting and expanding programs that are vital to seniors, saidRep. DeFazio . This legislation would ensure that the Social Security Trust Fund remains solvent for another 75 years…
To read the full text .
Social Security recipients get a cost-of-living adjustment once a year, with a bump of 5.9% for 2022. That increase, however, may not keep pace with this years soaring inflation numbers.
Accoding to a release on Rep. DeFazios web page, the Social Security Expansion Act would:
What Changes Would The Social Security Expansion Act Make
While it still has to be approved, the Social Security Expansion Act would make four main changes:
- Increasing the primary insurance amount for certain beneficiaries
- Revising the method of calculating cost-of-living adjustments
- Establishing a new minimum benefit for certain low earners
- Allowing certain children of retired, deceased, or disabled workers to receive benefits until age 22 if they are a full-time student
These changes would ensure that the benefits keep pace with the expenses that seniors incur more accurately, which should help the current situation.
The bill would shift focus from making calculations based on the CPI-W, and instead tailor these calculations using the CPI-E, Consumer Price Index for the Elderly model, instead.
In order to make up the shortfall and pay for the increased benefits, the bill would apply the payroll tax that funds the program on all income above 250,000 dollars.
Under the current laws, the maximum amount subject to the Social Security payroll tax is just 132,900 dollars, so this would make a big difference.
Lawmakers Are Paying Attention
The fact that Social Security is facing financial difficulties isn’t exactly news. For many years, the program’s trustees have been warning that Social Security’s combined trust funds have an expiration date, and once they run out of money, benefit cuts will be on the table.
The trustees’ latest projections show those funds being depleted by 2035. That’s not so far off, and if lawmakers want to prevent benefit cuts, they’ll need to act quickly. And two notable ones are spearheading that effort.
Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have put together a proposal known as the Social Security Expansion Act. That bill calls for an increase in benefits to the tune of $200 a month, or $2,400 per year. It also calls for increased Social Security taxes on higher earners to pump more money into the program and prevent benefit cuts.
Currently, only wages of up to $147,000 are taxed for Social Security purposes. That means someone making $147,000 a year pays the same amount into the program as someone earning $2 million. The Social Security Expansion Act is seeking to raise that wage cap and apply it to income above $250,000. It also wants to raise the Social Security tax rate that applies to the wealthy.
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Social Security Bill Would Give Seniors An Extra $2400 A Year
Seniors and other Social Security recipients in the U.S. are being hit hard by inflation, which has outpaced increases in their benefits this year. Now, some lawmakers have a plan to boost Social Security payments by $2,400 per recipient annually, while also shoring up the program financially.
The Social Security Expansion Act was introduced on June 9 by Rep. Peter DeFazio, a Democrat from Oregon, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont. The plan comes after the Social Security Administration earlier this month said Americans will stop receiving their full Social Security benefits in roughly 13 years without actions to shore up the program.
Social Security recipients receive one cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, each year, which is based on inflation and is supposed to keep their benefits in line with rising prices. But this year, beneficiaries are seeing their purchasing power wane as inflation overtakes their latest COLA increase of 5.9%. Inflation in May rose 8.6% from a year ago, a four-decade high that pushed up the cost of food, shelter, energy and other staples.
The new bill would seek to lessen the strain on people collecting Social Security by boosting each recipients monthly check by $200 an annual increase of $2,400.
Im confident changes will be made, Shedden said. I dont know if this is the bill that will pass, but there is more and more movement on it.
Heres what to know about the Social Security Expansion Act.
Social Security Update: New Bill Could Benefit Seniors Immensely By Improving Cost
A new bill proposed by Rep. John B. Larson would bring sweeping changes to Social Security benefits, including hiking the annual cost-of-living adjustment to better reflect costs incurred by seniors.
Senior Stimulus: Advocacy Group Proposes One-Time, $1,400 Payment for Social Security Recipients
The bill, called Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust, is slated to be introduced this week, according to a report from 401K Specialist. If it passes, it would provide an increase for all beneficiaries that is equivalent to about 2% of the average benefit, Larson said on his website. It would also tweak the annual COLA by adopting a CPI-E formula designed to take into account health care expenses, which seniors spend a greater portion of their income on than other age groups.
Improved inflation protection will especially help older retirees and widows who are more likely to rely on Social Security benefits as they age, Larson wrote in a statement.
A higher cost-of-living adjustment is especially important now, with inflation running so high. As GOBankingRates previously reported, the COLA for 2021 was only 1.3%, which means next years adjustment will rise by more than 4%. Some senior groups wanted an even higher COLA for 2022 of 6% to 6.1%, arguing that it would be needed to fully cover the needs of seniors.
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Other highlights of Larsons bill include the following:
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Defazio Sanders Introduce Legislation To Expand And Strengthen Social Security
WASHINGTON Congressman Peter DeFazio and Senator Bernie Sanders today introduced joint legislation, the Social Security Expansion Act , to strengthen and expand Social Security for current and future generations.
As a trained gerontologist, I have devoted my career to protecting and expanding programs that are vital to seniors. One of my highest priorities is protecting Social Security, which millions of Americans rely on, including hundreds of thousands of Oregonians. With the cost of living at an all-time high, Social Security has never been more important, yet Congressional Republicans continue to play games with its funding, saidRep. DeFazio . This legislation would ensure that the Social Security Trust Fund remains solvent for another 75 years, increase monthly benefits for most recipients by $200, and alter the cost-of-living-adjustment formula to meet the everyday needs of our nations seniors.
The Senior Citizens League is proud to support Congressman DeFazios Social Security Expansion Act. An extra $200 a month would go a long way in helping retirees make ends meet and extending the solvency of the Social Security program for 75 years means this benefit will pay itself forward for years to come, said Richard Delaney, Chair, The Senior Citizens League.
The Social Security Expansion Act would:
Social Security Benefits: How Will The Ssea Affect Your Cola Payments
Find out if you’ll be getting an extra $200 a month
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The issue of combating inflation is a serious one, as the increased cost of living is taking a toll on households across the United States of America, especially older people with limited incomes.
The increased prices have been especially hard on those who depend on Social Security Benefits, with inflation now outpacing this year’s Cost of Living Adjustment .
The Democratic party, however, have put forth a proposal called the Social Security Expansion Act , which is targeted at mitigating the projected shortfall and plans to provide recipients with an additional 200 dollars a month, which represents a 12 percent increase to current beneficiaries.
The SSEA would change the way benefits are indexed annually and would also add a mechanism to full fund the changes.
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Inflation Is Cutting Into The Purchasing Power Of Seniors Receiving Social Security How Could The 2023 Cola Affect Benefits
Inflation is beginning to impact the wallets of many across the country, but seniors, many of whom are on a fixed income, are really struggling to keep up. Twenty-three percent of people over sixty-five reported difficulty covering basic household expenses in May. This is up from sixteen percent during the same period last year.
The Senior Citizens League has released the preliminary results of a study showing that many Social Security recipients have lost around forty percent of their purchasing power since 2000. In part, much of this loss stems from inflation currently affecting the market.
Statement By The President Following Senate Approval Of The Bill To Increase Social Security Benefits
TODAY, in the Senate, 100 million Americans won a major victory.I am proud that the Senate today passed the social security measure which so fully embraces the recommendations I made last January. Millions of American families have been waiting. Now they look to the President and the Congress with new hope for prompt action.
This measure promises a higher standard of living to 24 million Americans who now receive monthly social security checks. It promises a brighter future to 75 million wage earners and their families.
Today’s bill marks the greatest dollar increase–and one of the most sweeping improvements in the program–since President Roosevelt launched social security 32 years ago.Here is what this bill means:–An average benefit increase of over 20 percent.–A 59 percent increase for those citizens receiving the lowest benefits. For example a couple now receiving the $66 monthly minimum would get a $105 check. A single person now receiving $44 would get $70.–In short this measure will lift a million Americans above the poverty line.
The House has already voted major improvements in the program. As this bill goes to conference, I ask the Congress to take this unparalleled opportunity to enlarge and enrich the lives of all our families.
In our day, every American has the right to ask and receive the blessings of security for his children and his family. We dare not fail them.
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Why Does Social Security Tend To Not Go Far
The maximum benefit is $3,345 a month for someone who files for Social Security in 2022 at full retirement age .
FRA is the age at which you qualify for 100% of the benefit calculated from your earnings history.
This is $40,140 annually. However, the average rent in the United States is about $1,100 to $1,200.
This leaves a retiree with $25,740 annually, which is just above the poverty line.
When you plan for retirement, it’s important to remember that Social Security is only meant to cover about 40% of pre-retirement income.
Benefits Boost: $200 Plus Cola Changes
Anyone who is a current Social Security recipient or who will turn 62 in 2023 the earliest age at which an individual can claim Social Security would receive an extra $200 per monthly check.
There are some additional tweaks that would boost benefits over the long term. One of the primary changes would be to base the annual COLA on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly , rather than the current index that the Social Security Administration uses for its calculation the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers .
The CPI-E more accurately reflects seniors spending patterns, according to experts on Social Security. For instance, it puts more weight on health care expenses, which can be considerable for senior citizens.
If the CPI-E had been used to index the annual COLA for Social Security, a senior who filed for Social Security benefits over 30 years ago would have received about $14,000 more in retirement than compared with the CPI-W, according to the Senior Citizens League.
The bill would also boost benefits for the lowest income earners in the U.S., who receive benefits under a program called the Special Minimum Benefit. Under the legislation, it would be indexed so that it is equal to about 125% of the federal poverty line, or about $1,400 a month. In 2020, the Special Minimum Benefit paid about $900 per month, according to the Social Security Administration.
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Would Those Changes Fix The Program’s Funding Shortfall
Expanding the payroll tax would boost the Social Security Administration’s trust fund, ensuring its solvency through 2096, according to DeFazio.
Whether this bill moves forward or not, boosting payroll taxes in some fashion is viewed as a way to guarantee that current and future retirees don’t lose benefits after 2035.
For instance, the Congressional Research Service said in a 2021 report that “raising or eliminating the cap on wages that are subject to taxes could reduce the long-range deficit in the Social Security trust funds.”
Understand What Happened To Bidens Domestic Agenda
Build Back Better.Before being elected president in 2020, Joseph R. Biden Jr. articulated his ambitious vision for his administration under the slogan Build Back Better, promising to invest in clean energy and to ensure that procurement spending went toward American-made products.
A two-part agenda.March and April 2021: President Biden unveiled two plans that together formed the core of his domestic agenda: the American Jobs Plan, focused on infrastructure, and the American Families Plan, which included a variety of social policy initiatives.
A $6 trillion budget.June 2021: President Biden proposed a $6 trillion budget for 2022. The proposal detailed the highest sustained levels of federal spending since World War II, with the goal of funding the investments in education, transportation and climate initiatives articulated in the two plans.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.Nov. 15, 2021: President Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law, the result of months of negotiations. The president hailed the package, a pared-back version of what had been outlined in the American Jobs Plan, as evidence that U.S. lawmakers could still work across party lines.
It doesnt just fix Social Security for 75 years, Mr. Biggs said. It would keep the system permanently solvent. Thats a real plus.
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Taxation Of Benefits Is Progressive
Taxes on Social Security benefits fall more heavily on high-income than low-income taxpayers. Thats both because a larger share of benefits is taxable for high-income taxpayers and because they face higher marginal income tax rates.
About half of Social Security beneficiaries pay no tax on their benefits because their incomes are below $25,000 , according to the Congressional Budget Office . At the other end of the income spectrum, a small number of high-income taxpayers pay as much as 31 percent of their benefits in taxes. Thats equal to the top marginal income tax rate of 37 percent applied to 85 percent of their benefits.
On average, beneficiaries pay about 7 percent of their benefits in income taxes. Beneficiaries with incomes below $40,000 owe less than 0.5 percent of their benefits in taxes, CBO estimates. In contrast, beneficiaries with incomes over $100,000 owe about 21 percent .
Social Security Benefits: Is Extra $200 Monthly Payment Coming
A bill introduced in Congress by Rep. Peter DeFazio and Sen. Bernie Sanders would put an additional $200 in the pockets of Social Security beneficiaries.
DeFazio and Sanders introduced the Social Security Expansion Act on June 9, according to a press release from DeFazios office.
The act would strengthen and expand Social Security benefits and increase the cost of living adjustments for current and future generations.
The bill was introduced after the Social Security Administration said that Americans would no longer receive benefits in 13 years if congressional lawmakers do not address the funding shortage.
The new bill would allot $200 more per month for each Social Security recipient a 12% boost in money, according to CBS News.
According to the Social Security Administration, Social Security benefits have increased by 5.9% the largest increase since 1982.
Many, many seniors rely on Social Security for the majority, if not all, of their income, Martha Shedden, president of the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts, told CBS News. $200 a month can make a significant difference for many people.
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