GARFIELD, NJ – ​Legislation would cut taxes for seniors, increase benefits and strengthen retirement security [November 12, 2015]

Today, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09) was joined by Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) for a lunch meeting with 200 constituents at the Garfield Senior Center to discuss retirement security and their plan to expand and strengthen Social Security. The two members serve on the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees Social Security and they were touting H.R. 1391, the ‘Social Security 2100 Act’, introduced by Rep. Larson and cosponsored by Rep. Pascrell. The measure would cut taxes for Social Security recipients, provide a benefit bump for current and future beneficiaries, and keep the system strong for generations to come.

"I appreciate my friend Congressman John Larson from Connecticut for coming down to visit with the Garfield seniors today, and I want to thank him for taking the lead on this plan to bolster the Social Security program. All this talk about Social Security going bankrupt and not being around for future generations has been a scare tactic from those who want to make changes detrimental to the program to achieve an ideological objectives," stated Pascrell. "Our seniors will not be fooled. The plan we laid out today can extend the solvency of Social Security until the year 2100 and include a benefit increase for seniors by making minor changes to the program."

“Social Security is not an entitlement – these are benefits earned by hard-working Americans who have paid into the system their whole lives. Two-thirds of retirees rely on Social Security for the majority of their income, and it is a lifeline for the disabled and those who have lost a loved one. Those who suggest we need to cut Social Security in order to save it are fundamentally misguided.  We know there is a better way forward, which is why I am happy to visit the Garfield Senior Center today and proud to work with my friend Bill Pascrell on a plan that not only strengthens benefits now, but ensures Social Security will be here through the next century,” said Larson.

The Social Security 2100 Act, H.R. 1391, provides the following:

• Tax cut for over 11 million Social Security recipients by raising the threshold on taxation of benefits
• Benefit bump beginning in 2016 for current and new beneficiaries
• Protection for low income workers by raising the minimum benefit from below the poverty line to 25% above
• Long term protection against inflation for cost of living adjustments (COLA) by adopting the CPI-E formula

Social Security remains the single most reliable program for middle class Americans and is expected to pay full benefits over the next two decades. With common sense steps like those in the Larson/Pascrell proposal, Congress can boost this vital program now and ensure Social Security remains strong well into the future. In fact, the Social Security Administration’s Chief Actuary issued a report verifying that the Larson/Pascrell plan would keep the program solvent beyond the next seventy-five years.

Without Social Security, 22.2 million more Americans would be poor. The program keeps 365,000 New Jerseyans out of poverty. In New Jersey’s 9th Congressional District, 118,629 people collect Social Security.