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The IAM represented the labor movement on Capitol Hill by calling for an expansion in the earned benefits of Social Security.
“The labor movement firmly believes that an individual retirement savings plan is not an adequate substitute for the guaranteed retirement benefit a pension provides, and the fact that this substitution is occurring is one of the reasons Social Security benefits are increasingly important to working families,” said IAM Research Economist Ilana Boivie in her testimony to the House Ways and Means subcommittee on Social Security.
The hearing, entitled “Protecting and Improving Social Security: Enhancing Social Security to Strengthen the Middle Class” was the first in a series of hearings on the future of the earned benefit program.
WATCH: IAM Research Economist Ilana Boivie testifies on Social Security expansion
“#SocialSecurity is the most effective anti-poverty program in our nation’s history, our most important family income and disability protection program, and the cornerstone of retirement income security.”
– Illana Boivie, IAM economist pic.twitter.com/0hbmJYfZhk
— Machinists Union (@MachinistsUnion) March 12, 2019
Chairman John B. Larson (D-CT), who led the hearing, is the sponsor of the Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 860). The legislation calls for benefit increases, improved cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), a stronger minimum benefit and the elimination of the tax on Social Security benefits.
The budget proposal submitted by the President this week would cut $25 billion from Social Security over the next 10 years.
“Social Security is our nation’s most successful insurance program,” said Larson. “Social Security isn’t an entitlement; it’s the insurance you’ve paid for. Nobody’s getting rich off of Social Security, they are using these benefits to pay for essentials. This money goes straight back into the economy.”
"Nowhere on the private insurance market can you find a plan like Social Security that offers a pension plan, a disability insurance, & life insurance for spouses + dependents." – @RepJohnLarson #ExpandSocialSecurity
— SocialSecurityWorks (@SSWorks) March 12, 2019
