This week, lawmakers in the House and Senate adjourned for a week-long holiday recess. They are expected to return to Washington on Tuesday, June 5th. In the meantime, many Members of Congress will be attending local events or hosting town hall meetings in their home states and districts. .It's unknown whether or not Congress will tackle the SGR before the end of the year, but most Subcommittee Members at Wednesday's hearing did seem set on providing extensions for the other payment provisions that are nearing expiration. .The battle between spending cuts versus revenue increases continues to be the largest point of contention between the two sides. Democrats are pushing a one-to-one ratio, contending that Congress has already outlined enough spending cuts in the debt limit increase law. If the Super Committee cannot come to a compromise by the deadline, mandated across-the-board budget cuts will occur. .Key Social Security Bills Gain Support .(Washington, DC) – Low inflation is striking another blow to the long - term Social Security income of millions of older and disabled Americans, according to a new analysis by The Senior Citizens League (TSCL). "For the third time in only 7 years, older Americans will not see any Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) increase in their Social Security benefits," says TSCL Chairman, Ed Cates. "For tens of millions of people this has a devastating impact on the long-term adequacy of their benefits," he says. The Social Security Administration recently announced that more than 59 million beneficiaries would not receive an annual COLA next year, because inflation was lower this year than it was a year ago. .Social Security recipients who have contacted The Senior Citizens League overwhelmingly feel that a higher COLA would be long overdue. They say that the COLA doesn't come close to keeping up with their actual cost increases. When prices rise rapidly at the same time that retirees are receiving a very low COLA, as is the case in 2021, this shortfall can produce long-term impacts on retirement income, and even health, when retired households without adequate retirement savings run short of cash before the month is over. "In email after email, we are hearing that people are cutting their spending on prescriptions and groceries because that's the last things they have left to cut," says Johnson. The Senior Citizens League works to strengthen Social Security benefits and the COLA. .If adopted, this bipartisan bill would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – two Social Security provisions that cut the benefits of millions of teachers, police officers, and other state or local government employees. By repealing these two provisions, the Social Security Fairness Act would ensure that all public servants receive the Social Security benefits they have earned and deserve. .To make the COLA more fair and accurate, TSCL believes that Congress must fully implement the CPI-E, and use it to provide a more realistic annual benefit boost. We support a number of bills before Congress that would do just that, including the CPI-E Act (H.R. 1030), the Guaranteed 3% COLA Act (H.R. 1585), the CPI for Seniors Act (H.R. 2154), and the Social Security Guarantee Act (H.R. 1275). Each of them would go a long way in ensuring that seniors receive the retirement security they deserve. .This week, lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill and those in the House passed legislation that will reduce prescription drug costs at pharmacies. In addition, the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee met to discuss information technology within the Social Security program, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) saw two key bills gain support.