John,

In the midst of outrageous attacks on the Social Security Administration¹, we have a chance to push policymakers to build on this successful program.

Social Security lifts more people above the poverty line each year than any other program in the United States.² Since its inception nearly 90 years ago, it has never missed a payment. But if Congress does not act, starting in 2035, Social Security will only be able to pay roughly 80% of benefits owed.³

The solution to a future shortfall isn’t gutting the federal workforce that helps people in our communities get benefits or future cuts, it’s making the wealthy pay their fair share.

Now, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representatives Jan Schakowsky and Val Hoyle have introduced the Social Security Expansion Act, which would increase benefits across the board for current and future retirees. It would increase benefits by $2,400 a year, increase cost-of-living adjustments to better reflect the actual expenses of older Americans, improve the special minimum benefit for low-income retirees, extend the lifespan of the trust fund for 75 years, and more―all by making the wealthy pay their fair share.

Demand Congress act! Add your name and become a grassroots co-sponsor of the Social Security Expansion Act today.

Together, we will not stop fighting for a future that includes all of us, not just the wealthy few.

Thank you,

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, CHN Action

¹ Pushing Back Against Efforts to Gut the Social Security Administration
² Poverty in the United States: 2023
³ Social Security Expansion Act Fact Sheet

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

Each year, Social Security lifts tens of millions of people out of poverty, including older adults, children, and surviving spouses. According to the Census Bureau, Social Security lifts more people above the poverty line each year than any other program.¹

Even as a record 4+ million baby boomers are reaching 65 years old each year, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are throwing up barriers between us and our earned Social Security benefits, decimating the Social Security Administration―firing thousands of workers while closing Social Security field offices across the country.

Instead of attacking our earned benefits, we need to be expanding them to meet the actual needs of current and future retirees―including covering the increasing out-of-pocket costs of everything from food to housing to health care. That’s why we’re demanding Congress pass the Social Security Expansion Act.

Add your name as a grassroots co-sponsor of the Social Security Expansion Act today to demand Congress act.

Introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders in the Senate and Representatives Jan Schakowsky and Val Hoyle in the House, the Social Security Expansion Act would:²

• Extend the solvency of Social Security for 75 years by requiring the wealthiest American households to pay their fair share of taxes. Today, because of the earnings cap on Social Security taxes, a CEO making $20 million a year pays the same amount of money into Social Security as someone who makes $176,100 a year. This legislation would lift this cap and subject all income above $250,000 to the Social Security payroll tax. Under this bill, over 93 percent of households would not see their taxes go up by one penny.

• Expand Social Security benefits across-the-board for current and new beneficiaries. Under this bill, Social Security benefits for current and existing recipients would be increased by $2,400 a year.

• Increase Cost-Of-Living-Adjustments (COLAs). This bill would more accurately measure the spending patterns for seniors by adopting the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E). Older Americans, by and large, are not going out on spending sprees buying big screen TVs, laptops, or the latest high-tech gadgets. Rather, they spend a disproportionate amount of their income on health care and prescription drugs, which would be reflected in the formula for calculating COLAs under this legislation.

• Require millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share into Social Security. Currently, workers have 12.4 percent taken out of each paycheck and contributed to the Social Security Trust Fund, half paid by the employer and half by the worker. This bill would require the wealthy to pay the same 12.4 percent on their investment and business income, by increasing the net investment income tax by 12.4 percent and applying it to certain business income not already covered by payroll taxes.

• Improve the Special Minimum Benefit for Social Security recipients. This bill would help people with low incomes stay out of poverty by increasing the Special Minimum Benefit and indexing the benefit level so that it is equal to 125 percent of the poverty line, or over $18,000 for single workers who had worked their full career.

• Restore student benefits up to age 22 for children of disabled or deceased workers, if the child is a full-time student in a college or vocational school. This legislation would restore student benefits that were eliminated in 1983 to help educate children of deceased or disabled parents.

• Combine the Disability Insurance Trust Fund with the Old Age and Survivors Trust Fund to help older adults and people with disabilities.

Social Security has a $2.85 trillion trust fund and can pay every promised benefit to every eligible American until 2035. Yes, we should stabilize Social Security for the decades to come, and the Social Security Expansion Act does exactly that: it shows that if Congress makes the wealthy pay their fair share, we can expand benefits for millions of Americans and extend the lifespan of the trust fund for decades to come.

Add your name as a grassroots co-sponsor of the Social Security Expansion Act today.

Thank you for fighting for the future of our earned benefits and for the economic security of older Americans and our families who rely on Social Security to meet their basic needs.

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ Poverty in the United States: 2023
² Social Security Expansion Act Fact Sheet