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Brown Says Bill Would Strengthen Social Security
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, says a bill he's co-sponsoring would help shore up Social Security and increase benefits for its recipients.
"More than half of seniors in Ohio rely on Social Security for half of their incomes," Brown told a group gathered this morning at the Senior Independence Senior Center of Mahoning County. "You shouldn't be cutting it as some want to."
Instead, Brown has co-sponsored a bill introduced in March by U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa – the Strengthening Social Security Act of 2013 -- that over five years scraps the earnings cap that is subject to Social Security contributions, adds cost-of-living adjustments, and modifies the program's benefit formula.
Under this bill, benefits would be calculated according to costs accrued by seniors, such as medical care and housing, Brown said. Currently, the Consumer Price Index is tied to urban wage earners.
"The cost-of-living adjustments are calculated based on 40 year-olds, not a 70 year-old retired person," he said. "We want to change that."
Brown also said that he supports an effort to first raise the earnings cap on contributions to Social Security from $113,000 a year. "We're just saying everybody should pay the same percent into Social Security."
For example, a person making under $113,000 a year contributes to Social Security every pay. One making $226,000 a year just pays for the first six months.
Harkin's bill would gradually increase the cap over a five year period and eventually remove a ceiling on earnings. "We'll end up with a Social Security system that is strong decade after decade after decade," Brown said.
Strengthening and making solvent the Social Security Trust fund is imperative, Brown emphasized, since many companies have jettisoned their pension plans and seniors are concerned about Washington politicians tampering with the program.
"I think seniors are afraid about what they hear out of Washington, when they hear politicians who are well-paid, getting good health care benefits saying we should fix entitlements," he said. "When they say 'fix entitlements,' they mean cut Social Security and Medicare.
Norm Wernet, president of the Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans, said these adjustments could mean another $800 a year for retirees and the seniors.
"My passion is for everyone to know about what is available to us," he said. "This is good legislation that strengthens Social Security while improving the economic entitlement security of millions of Americans."
The program has been the "saving grace" for Americans across the country, especially during the trying times of a difficult economy. On average, a Social Security recipient gets $13,000 a year, Wernet said.
"It creates a more accurate cost-of-living amount, and helps beneficiaries keep up with their daily needs," Wernet said.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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