This week, House and Senate lawmakers remained in their home states and districts to campaign for the upcoming mid-term elections. Meanwhile, The Senior Citizens League saw support grow for one key bill that would improve the Social Security program if adopted.

Lawmakers Remain on Campaign Trail

This week, House and Senate lawmakers remained in their home states and districts to campaign for the mid-term elections, which will take place on Tuesday, November 6^th. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill to begin the “lame duck” session on Tuesday, November 13^th.

In the meantime, many Members of Congress who are up for re-election and their challengers will be attending events or hosting town hall meetings in their home states and districts. The Senior Citizens League encourages its supporters to attend these events and to ask important questions of their candidates, like the following three:

1. Social Security beneficiaries will receive a 2.8 percent COLA in 2019, but millions will see their benefit increases completely offset by higher Medicare Part B premiums. If you are elected in November, will you support bipartisan legislation called the CPI-E Act which would give seniors a more fair and adequate COLA?
2. Some lawmakers in Congress are advocating for paid leave legislation that would require new parents to trade their future Social Security retirement benefits for twelve weeks of parental leave. This would undermine the mission of the Social Security program, increase its insolvency, and permanently cut the retirement benefits of those who take paid leave. If elected in November, would you support this irresponsible proposal?
3. The federal government negotiates prescription drug prices for Medicaid and for veterans, but it is barred from negotiating lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. As a result, seniors enrolled in Part D often pay much higher prices for their prescription drugs. If elected in November, what will you do to correct this unfair policy?

For information about campaign events near you in the days leading up to the mid-term elections, call the local offices of your candidates. You can find contact information for your current elected officials right here.

Support Grows for Key Bill

This week, The Senior Citizens League was pleased to see support grow for one key bill that would improve retirement security in America if adopted.

Two new cosponsors – Representative Charlie Crist (FL-23) and Representative Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-9) – signed on to the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 1205), bringing the total up to 193. If adopted, this bipartisan bill would repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) – two provisions that unfairly reduce the Social Security benefits of millions of teachers, police officers, and other state and local government employees each year. By doing so, the Social Security Fairness Act would ensure that public servants receive the benefits they have earned and deserve.

The Senior Citizens League enthusiastically supports the Social Security Fairness Act, and we were pleased to see support grow for it this week. For more information about this bill and others that have been backed by The Senior Citizens League, visit the Bill Tracking section of our website.

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