Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is demanding a vote on a bill that would provide a one-time cash payment to Social Security beneficiaries and veterans who did not get a cost-of-living adjustment this year.
At least a dozen activists and heads of major advocacy groups joined Warren and several Democratic colleagues for a press conference outside the Senate on Wednesday, armed with boxes of 800,000 petition signatures in support of the bill that they subsequently delivered to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Warren introduced the Seniors and Veterans Emergency (SAVE) Benefits Act in November shortly after the federal government announced that there would be no annual cost-of-living adjustment in 2016 for Social Security, veterans benefits, Supplemental Security Income and other federal programs.
Seniors advocates and some economists argue that the consumer price index used to calculate the COLA does not accurately reflect the living expenses of seniors, for whom health care and housing make up a larger share of living costs.
– Huffington Post