Survey Shows Majority of Voters Want to Expand Social Security
The people have spoken — now we need our lawmakers to act. A new study by Data for Progress found that the majority of American voters favor Social Security expansion. Across party lines, 83 percent of people asked said they support expanding Social Security benefits in order to keep up with inflation.
This poll was cited in an article by Common Dreams about how voters overwhelmingly support proposals to expand Social Security for all recipients to cover today’s higher costs of living. It specifically pointed out the Social Security Expansion Act. This landmark piece of legislation calls for lifting the cap on income that is subject to the Social Security payroll tax to boost the program’s annual benefits by $2,400.
The article looked back at that same voter survey and found that 76 percent of likely voters support imposing payroll taxes on individuals with annual incomes above $400,000 per year to fund an expansion of Social Security benefits. Right now, only people making $147,000 or less are subject to the Social Security payroll tax.
The Social Security Expansion Act proposes applying the Social Security payroll tax to all income — including capital gains and dividends — for those people who make more than $250,000 a year. This will ensure that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.
New COLA Calculator
The Social Security Expansion Act also calls for increasing the annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. Right now, the COLA formula it is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or the CPI-W. It would use the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly, or the CPI-E, instead. That index specifically tracks the spending of households with people aged 62 and older. It places greater value on rising costs of expenses unique to seniors such as housing, healthcare and medicine. This would provide a much fairer cost-of-living adjustment for retirees.
The Seniors Trust is a strong supporter of this bill. You can show lawmakers that Social Security expansion is important to you by signing our petition to Congress.
