Social Security

As a trained gerontologist and member of the Expand Social Security Caucus, DeFazio has devoted his career to protecting and expanding programs and benefits vital to seniors. It has always been and continues to be his highest priority to protect Social Security. 
 

Social Security continues to provide the majority of income for most seniors in the United States, and it provides financial security to millions of disabled workers and children. While the average benefit is slightly more than $18,000 a year, Social Security continues to lift millions of seniors, children, and disabled individuals out of poverty. 
 

Congressman DeFazio has consistently supported efforts to protect and expand Social Security benefits for seniors and restore the long-term solvency of the program. DeFazio has long opposed privatizing Social Security, which could divert Social Security revenues to risky Wall Street accounts, and he has consistently opposed efforts to cut Social Security. DeFazio believes we have an unsustainable national debt that must be dealt with, but he will not stand for balancing the budget on the backs of seniors. He is also opposed to raising the retirement age or reducing benefits. 
 

The Social Security Trust Fund has paid every benefit check that has gone out, and projections estimate it will continue to pay 100 percent of benefits through 2034 if no action is taken. Under current law, if the Social Security trust fund runs short, it will only pay 75 percent of current benefits. Thus, if Congress does nothing to address a future shortfall, the program will automatically impose benefit cuts. 
 

DeFazio has a common-sense and fiscally responsible plan to protect Social Security and expand its benefits. He has introduced legislation, the Social Security Expansion Act, to help seniors and other beneficiaries by expanding benefits, reforming the current cost-of-living formula, and ensuring that full Social Security benefits will be available to future generations. 

The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is calculated using an outdated formula based on the cost of consumer products like laptop computers and iPads, as opposed to consumer goods most often purchased by seniors like prescription drugs, housing, food, and other basics. Skyrocketing health care costs are continuing to rise faster than the rate of inflation, and seniors suffer from those increased costs more than younger Americans. In DeFazio’s view, using such a poorly designed COLA formula defies all common sense. 

To address this problem in the short-term, DeFazio would change the COLA formula to one that truly matches increases in seniors’ actual expenses. 

Despite the success of Social Security, it is clear that too many seniors and other beneficiaries are still struggling to get by. DeFazio believes that we must expand Social Security so that everyone in America can retire with the respect that they have earned and deserve after a lifetime of hard work. That’s why in addition to reforming the COLA formula, DeFazio’s plan would expand Social Security Benefits across-the-board. As a result, Social Security retirement benefits for low-income workers would go up by about $1,300 a year. 

DeFazio’s plan would also help low-income workers stay out of poverty by updating the outdated Special Minimum Benefit formula so that more individuals can qualify. In addition, DeFazio’s plan would restore student benefits up to age 22 for children of disabled or deceased workers. Restoring this program, which was eliminated in 1983, would help educate children of deceased or disabled parents who are full-time students in a college or vocational school.