WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL09) today introduced the Seniors and Veterans Emergency (SAVE) Benefits Act, which provides a 3.9% increase in Social Security payments in 2016. This is the House companion to Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s SAVE Act, which she introduced earlier this month.
“Our seniors and veterans have not received a raise in 40 years,” Congressman Grayson said. “We have been using the wrong system to determine their Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA). Giving our seniors and veterans a 3.9% raise, the average raise CEOs at the top 350 American companies got last year, is an important step to righting this wrong. It will also help our economy, as it puts money into the hands of people who will spend it.”
This is not Congressman Grayson’s first bill to increase Social Security payments. In October, he introduced the Seniors Deserve a Raise Act, which calls for a 2.9% COLA for 2016, and ties future COLAs to a consumer price index that specifically analyzes how costs are rising for items seniors spend their money on, such as health care.
The Social Security Administration announced in October that there would be no COLA in 2016. This is due to the low level of inflation, which is strongly influenced by gasoline prices.
To pay for the 3.9% increase, the SAVE ACT closes a loophole that allows corporations to deduct executive bonuses from their taxes so long as those bonuses are “performance related.”
“Our seniors built this nation,” Congressman Grayson continued. “Our veterans sacrificed to defend it. We owe them so much. This modest raise is one way to repay them.”
Congressman Alan Grayson represents Florida’s 9th Congressional District, which includes Osceola County, as well as parts of Orange and Polk counties.
