J. Scott Applewhite
- The Senior Citizens League asked Congress for $1,400 stimulus checks for social security recipients.
- The group said seniors told them that "our government has forgotten about us."
- Social Security recipients were expected to get a 6% bump in their payments next year, AARP said.
A senior citizens advocacy group asked Congress to send $1,400 stimulus payments to Social Security recipients who are struggling with the rising cost of living.
The Senior Citizens League said in a letter to Senate and House leaders that many seniors have seen their financial situations worsen as the "government has forgotten about us."
Social Security recipients got a 1.3% cost-of-living increase in their payments for 2021, the slimmest increase since 2017.
"We've heard from thousands of [seniors] who have exhausted their retirement savings," the group wrote a letter sent earlier this month.
With their savings shrinking, some senior citizens have begun rationing their prescription drugs, the group said.
Others told the group they had "started eating just one meal a day." Those were just "a few of the drastic steps so many have had to take because of what inflation has done to them this year," the group said.
Next year, Social Security recipients are expected to get an about 6% bump in payments as a cost-of-living increase, AARP and other outlets reported. But that jump could trigger higher tax rates for some, the group said. The $1,400 stimulus "could help defray" those higher costs.
"It is unlikely Congress will take action on our proposal this year but if we can build enough support from seniors for it, we are hopeful it can become a major issue next year and that Congressional support for it will grow," the group said in a recent blog post.
The group has spent more than $2 million lobbying Washington lawmakers on seniors issues since 2005, according to public lobbying data compiled by ProPublica.