skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

50+ Arkansans to Congress: Leave Social Security Alone

play audio
Play

Wednesday, April 10, 2013   

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Perhaps no one feels more strongly about the prospect of changes to Social Security than people ages 50 and older - and in Arkansas, a new survey confirms it.

AARP asked 800 Arkansans if Social Security even should be part of the discussion about reducing the federal budget deficit. Eighty-six percent said "no," which mirrors the results of the same survey in other states.

"Social Security's gotten mixed in with deficit reduction," said senior Frank Hatfield. "Social Security didn't cause the deficit, and I think it should be looked at separately from trying to reduce our deficit."

One proposal included in President Obama's budget would change the way the annual cost-of-living adjustment is calculated for benefits, using a method called the "chained CPI" (Consumer Price Index). It would ultimately reduce the amounts people receive, and Cristina Martin-Firvida, AARP's director of financial security and consumer affairs, said three out of four people surveyed in Arkansas oppose it.

"We saw very strong opposition," she said, "specifically when we asked, 'What about this idea of a chained CPI, which is a way to change the way we calculate the inflation adjustment for your Social Security benefit or your veterans benefit.' "

A majority - from 68 percent of Republicans to 73 percent of Democrats - said they'll rethink whether to support their members of Congress if they vote to approve the chained CPI adjustment.

Martin-Firvida said people's political affiliations didn't seem to matter in the survey. The view, she said, was, "Hands off Social Security, and handle any negotiations separately from the deficit debate."

"That held true across party lines," she said. "We saw 85 percent of Republicans agree that Social Security should not be affected for deficit reduction."

The survey was conducted two weeks ago. AARP Arkansas officials said the results aren't surprising, since more than half of Arkansans on Social Security depend on it for at least half of their income.

The survey results are online at aarp.org/colasurvey.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021