New Challenges Ahead
By Jessie Gibbons, Legislative Assistant
The second session of the 113th Congress has just begun, and The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) is gearing up for another busy year. With the November elections now behind us, TSCL is expecting many new challenges, and hoping for new successes as well.
Lawmakers will likely want to tackle any major legislative efforts on the agenda — like immigration reform or changes to Medicare — early in the year. Doing so would give them plenty of time to focus on the elections in the summer and fall months. TSCL is currently monitoring these reform negotiations carefully to make certain that they don't gain significant traction. In addition, benefit cuts that some lawmakers have mistakenly called "minor tweaks" — like the adoption of the "chained" Consumer Price Index (CPI) or increased Medicare means testing — are also still on the table.
Throughout the remainder of the 113th Congress, TSCL will work diligently to prevent harmful benefit cuts for seniors, and we will continue to advocate for critical legislation like the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act, the Social Security Fairness Act, and the No Social Security for Illegal Immigrants Act. In addition to these priorities, TSCL's 2014 legislative agenda includes the following issues.
- Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment – Ensuring a fair and accurate annual adjustment, and fighting efforts to cut COLAs.
- Social Security Notch Reform – Working towards benefit equality for older Americans.
- Immigration Reform – Preventing an unnecessary drain on the Social Security Trust Fund caused by document fraud and unauthorized earnings.
- Protection of the Social Security Trust Fund – Ensuring that the program’s assets are locked out of the general budget.
- Prevention of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse – Eliminating theft and inefficiencies from Social Security and Medicare.
- Social Security Reform – Extending the program's solvency without enacting harmful cuts.
- Medicare Reform – Protecting seniors from changes that increase costs and limit access to care.
TSCL's all-volunteer Board of Trustees and legislative team — that includes former Congressman David Funderburk and Mrs. Betty Funderburk — look forward to advocating tirelessly on behalf of seniors throughout the remainder of the 113th Congress.
