WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 – Sen. Bernie Sanders’ legislation to strengthen and expand Social Security would extend the life of the program an additional 40 years, from 2034 to 2074, according to a new analysis by the agency in charge of determining the solvency of Social Security.
The Social Security Expansion Act – introduced by Sanders last year – would subject all income over $250,000 to the payroll tax. Under current law, the amount of income subject to the payroll tax is capped at $118,500. That means someone making millions of dollars a year pays the same amount as someone making $118,500 a year.
“Millions of Americans have worked hard to earn their Social Security benefits and depend on those benefits to keep them out of poverty when they can no longer work,” Sanders said. “Today’s projections show that we can significantly expand Social Security benefits while also extending the life of the program to 2074. All that is required is the political will to tell the wealthiest Americans to pay the same rate as everyone else.”
Asking the wealthiest Americans to contribute more into Social Security would not only extend the solvency of Social Security from the current estimate of 2034 to 2074, it also would allow Social Security benefits to be expanded for millions of Americans. The American people overwhelmingly support protecting and expanding Social Security.
The bill would:
- Increase Social Security benefits by more than $1,300 a year for seniors with less than $16,000 in income.
- Increase the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security recipients to better reflect the rising prices of products seniors are buying, such as prescription drugs.
Raise the minimum Social Security benefit for the lowest income seniors to significantly reduce the senior poverty rate.
Sanders’ legislation has been endorsed by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, the Senior Citizens League and Social Security Works.
To read the Social Security Actuary’s analysis click here
