Seniors

Saving Social Security First

In the late 1990s, it appeared our government would enjoy surpluses for years to come. Congresswoman Lowey was a strong advocate for investing surpluses in Social Security, which could have put this program on sound footing for the next 75 years. Unfortunately, tax cuts that will drain more than $1 trillion from the federal budget created uncertainty for the future of this critical program.


Opposing Privatization of Social Security

Social Security represents a contract between our nation and its citizens -- a contract that must be honored. Privatization plans introduce risk into a program that serves Americans at a point in life when they are most vulnerable. Proposals to privatize portions of Social Security would result in benefit cuts for seniors. Financial markets can suffer violent swings, and retirement savings can be lost in an instant--gambling seniors' futures in the stock market is no way to ensure a comfortable retirement.

Making Social Security Fair for Women

Rep. Lowey has been a leader in the fight to ensure that women receive their fair share of Social Security benefits. Women's roles in the workplace and family often do not provide them with the economic security to retire comfortably. Because women earn only 76 cents of every dollar that men earn, and they spend an average of 11.5 years out of the workforce caring for their children, they earn less over their lifetimes than men. As a result, women rely on Social Security more than men.


For many years, Rep. Lowey has introduced a package of bills to improve Social Security benefits for women by removing rules that limit or prevent women from receiving the financial assistance they have earned. These bills would allow disabled widows to collect full benefits regardless of age, and eliminate waiting periods for divorced spouse and widow benefits. In addition, they would allow a working widow to supplement her widow's benefits with earnings from her employment during ages 65 through 70.


Making Social Security Fair for Caregivers

Family caregivers attending to children, parents, or sick relatives are increasingly common in our society. As many as 52 million Americans are informal caregivers, many of whom take time out of the workforce to care for loved ones. Unfortunately, this devotion is penalized later in life when, at retirement, the caregiver faces reduced Social Security benefits.


The penalty for caregiving is especially troubling for women, who make up nearly three-quarters of informal caregivers to seniors, and who often care for children at the same time. Rep. Lowey has introduced legislation to ensure that Americans are not punished for taking time out of the workforce to care for loved ones. This legislation would allow workers who work a part-time job or take time off to care for a family member to substitute one-half of the average national annual wages in their lifetime Social Security calculation.


Protecting Seniors' Benefits

When the taxable portion of Social Security benefits was increased for certain retirees from 50 to 85 percent, Rep. Lowey introduced legislation to repeal the tax increase and to offset the revenue loss with specific spending cuts. Rep. Lowey also supported passage of a 1996 law allowing seniors to earn more without decreasing their Social Security benefits, and she cosponsored legislation that would allow Social Security Cost of Living Adjustments to be calculated using a consumer price index specifically tailored to seniors.


Safeguarding Employee Pensions

Defined benefit pensions are the key to financial security for many American retirees. Unlike 401(k)s, IRAs, or other savings plans, traditional pensions provide a guaranteed source of income, enabling older Americans to remain economically independent throughout their retirement years. Rep. Lowey believes that these pension plans, along with the guaranteed benefits of Social Security, must be protected to ensure that Americans do not outlive their private savings and investments. Companies must be stopped from passing the financial burden of pension plans to the federal government and ultimately to American taxpayers.


Rep. Lowey supports legislation that would level the playing field between executives and employees by giving employees full control of their retirement accounts and access to unbiased, independent investment advice. In addition, executives would be held fully accountable when they violate pension rights. Lowey has also sponsored legislation that would increase the amounts workers can contribute to their pensions and create Roth 401(k) plans for which individuals would pay taxes on the contributions but not the withdrawals.


Rep. Lowey voted to provide protections to older workers affected by cash balance plan conversions. Without these protections, over 90% of older workers could lose pension benefits in cash balance plan conversions. Rep. Lowey also voted to prevent bankrupt companies, including United Airlines, from unloading their workers’ pension plans onto the federal government.