April 08, 2016

SAVE ACT

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is a sponsor of S. 2251, known as the SAVE Benefits Act, which would provide seniors and veterans a one-time payment this year of $581 to make up for not getting any increase in Social Security and veterans benefits. The criterion for determining the percentage increase, or lack of increase, is whether there is an increase in the cost of living (COLA—cost of living allowance), and the lower cost of gasoline was a huge factor in determining that there was a zero percentage increase in the cost of living. However, senior citizens generally do not drive as much as those who still work full time, so the lack of an increase has caused undue hardship on this group. How would the one-time payment be funded? Senator Warren and others who are demanding that Mitch McConnell bring this bill to a vote say that the cost would be paid for by closing a loophole that allows corporations to write off their bonuses to CEOs as a “business expense.