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It’s no secret that Social Security is underfunded, and many Americans are struggling to scrape by on their monthly benefit checks.
Now, congressional leaders have raised a key question on reforming the program.
“Should we vote now or should we kick the can down the road?” said Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., during a House Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee meeting this week.
Larson, who serves as chair of the subcommittee, posed the question to Julian Blair, a Washington, D.C., resident, retiree and veteran, who testified during the hearing.
“Congressman, I say we should have voted yesterday,” Blair said.
The exchange highlights the issue facing lawmakers now that President Joe Biden is in office, with Democrats also controlling the House and Senate: How soon can they address Social Security reform?
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Biden ran on a campaign platform touting big Social Security changes. Among his proposals is raising the minimum Social Security benefit to 125% of the federal poverty level. He also wants to eliminate rules that reduce benefits for those who also have certain kinds of pension income, known as the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset.
Larson has also put forward his own proposal, called the Social Security 2100 Act, which aims to expand benefits while extending the program’s solvency into the next century.
Both Biden’s and Larson’s plans would require some payroll tax increases, particularly for high earners, with the goal of providing bigger benefits to lower earners.
“To the shame of this nation, millions have worked all their lives, paid into a system and receive a below-poverty-line check from Social Security,” Larson said at the hearing.
Currently, 4-in-10 Social Security beneficiaries rely on those benefits for most of their income, Larson said. The average retired worker receives $18,500. Yet others receive payments below the poverty line — $12,880 — particularly women and minorities.
For Americans collecting Social Security who struggle to make ends meet, changes to increase the minimum benefit and get rid of rules that reduce monthly checks for those who also have pension income cannot come soon enough.
That includes Blair, who started contributing to Social Security at age 15 while working summers at a tomato factory in Virginia. He went on to serve in the Air Force and Army and fought in Thailand during the Vietnam War. Following his military service, he held various positions at Corning Glass Works.
Today, Blair calls Social Security “a critical part of my income.” But it still is not enough.
“Though I…
Read More: How retirees say benefits should change