Congresswoman Suzan DelBene met with a group of local seniors last week to discuss the importance of Social Security.
Doris Nicastro hosted the conversation at her Kirkland home. In addition to DelBene, Kirkland resident Lance Colvin, Redmond resident Grace Hofrichter and Doris’ daughter, Judy Nicastro, were there to talk about Social Security and how it has affected their lives.
Doris has relied on Social Security for a good share of her life, from when her father passed when she was just 10 years old to the death of her husband in 1978 to her own retirement in 2005.
“Social Security is a lifeline,” she said. “It’s made an enormous difference in the security of our lives.”
Hofrichter and Colvin both rely on Social Security now that they’re retired. Hofrichter uses the Social Security payments to help fund her medical expenses, while Colvin said he and his wife get 90 percent of their income from it in retirement.
“Social Security and Medicare are extremely crucial for us,” Colvin said.
This conversation came following DelBene’s co-sponsorship of the FAIR Social Security Act (House Resolution 1984), legislation that would scrap the cap on Social Security tax. Currently, any income above $118,500 is not subject to the tax. The legislation would get rid of that cap and therefore keep Social Security solvent through 2057.
“It’s vital to maintain Social Security for our children, grandchildren and generations to come,” Hofrichter said.
Additionally, the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers would be adjusted under the legislation to adequately reflect the high cost of living some seniors face in the Social Security payments they receive, DelBene said.
“Every senior who’s been paying into this should have a decent quality of life,” Judy said.
All of those at the discussion were in support of the legislation in seeing how vital Social Security payments have been both to them and people they know. They also agreed it was a fairly unobtrusive way of generating more Social Security funding, rather than instituting a new tax to fund it.
“Any other way, there would be so much resistance,” Colvin said.
