News
-
Legislative Update For The Week Ending September 9 2011 Feed
In addition, Avik Roy – Co-Founder and President of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity – suggested that lawmakers focus on increased transparency in the pharmaceutical industry. He said if action is not taken reduce prescription drug prices, "the poor, vulnerable, and elderly have the most to lose." .Key Bill Gains Cosponsors .Rick is also an advocate for all Veteran causes and currently serves as The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) Chairman. … Continued
-
Update For Week Ending September 4 2021
Congressional support for a bi-partisan deficit reduction solution before the November 21st deadline is dwindling as each day passes. Republican co-chairman of the joint committee, Rep. Jen Hensarling (TX-5), expressed discontent with Democratic colleagues this week for rejecting the latest GOP offer. "I will give my Democratic colleagues credit for at least putting some reforms on the table, but frankly they do not solve the problem," Hensarling said. .This week, one new cosponsor – Rep. John Garamendi (CA-3) – signed on to the SAVE Benefits Act (H.R. 4012), which was recently introduced in the House by Rep. Alan Grayson (FL-9). If signed into law, the bill would give Social Security beneficiaries a 3.9 percent COLA next year instead of the zero COLA they are expected to receive. It would cover the cost of the emergency COLA and extend the solvency of the Trust Funds by closing a loophole that allows corporations to deduct executive bonuses from their taxes. .Payroll taxes, and the taxes that people pay on a portion of their Social Security benefits, are two major sources of program funding. The Social Security Trust Fund also receives interest payments from the U.S. Treasury for the money that the federal government has borrowed when the program was in surplus. In fact, the … Continued
Second, in October, Congress passed legislation to strengthen Social Security's Disability Insurance (DI) program. Many of the recommendations that TSCL made to the House Ways and Means Committee back in August were signed into law, including provisions that will ramp up fraud prevention and test new work incentives for beneficiaries. Most importantly, the law prevents a 20 percent benefit cut that was scheduled to hit 11 million disabled beneficiaries in December 201A cut of that size would have been truly devastating for enrollees, and TSCL applauds Members of Congress for averting it. .TSCL is working for the re-introduction of the Notch Fairness Act. This legislation would allow Notch Babies born from 1917 through 1926, or survivors who receive benefits on a Notch Baby's account, to choose a lump sum of ,000 payable in four annual installments of ,250, or an improved monthly benefit. .In its June 2018 Long Term Budget Outlook, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that earnings will grow faster for higher-income people than for others over the next 30 years. The CBO expects that trend to lead to a decrease in the amount of payroll tax receipts that otherwise would flow into Social Security, as a greater share of earnings will be above the maximum amount subject to Social Security payroll taxes. .Dr. Conway assured lawmakers on the Finance Committee that CMS is carefully reviewing comments from the public about the proposed program, and that the Administration is committed to working closely with stakeholders to improve the proposal. He said, "Our goal is to be responsive to the public comments and input from Congress while preserving the integrity and effectiveness of the model." ."It is not possible or believable that the infection control surveys accurately portray the extent of infection control deficiencies in U.S. nursing facilities," the report states. .If I received the ,000 Lump-Sum Settlement, would I then lose my monthly Social Security check? Would the amount of the check be raised to the level that it should have been all along? .This week, four new cosponsors signed on to the bipartisan Equal Treatment of Public Servants Act (H.R. 711), bringing the total up to 11The new cosponsors are Reps. Don Young (AK-1), Carlos Curbelo (FL-26), Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), and Erik Paulsen (MN-3). .The reserves held in the Social Security Trust Fund are special non-marketable bonds, or I.O.Us — money that the U.S. Treasury owes to the Social Security Trust Fund for revenues borrowed during years since the late 1980's when more payroll taxes were received than needed to pay benefits. "The federal government used those excess funds received in the past for other spending and replaced the funds with I.O.Us," Johnson explains. Since 2010 however, more has been paid out in benefits than revenues received. The reserves held by the Trust Fund are not actual cash revenues but bonds, so the funds that those I.O.U.s represent must be borrowed. Medicare benefits must also be provided for, which has led to major budget clashes in Congress in recent years. .The Social Security Trustees further estimate that .9 billion in revenues in 2020 would come from the taxation of Social Security benefits. "Yet those revenues are also likely to be lower, impacted by both large numbers of older Americans who lost income from jobs, as well as from lower distributions from retirement accounts that have lost value from last year," Johnson notes. Under the CARES Act, retirees are allowed to completely waive required minimum distributions for 2020 from retirement accounts.
