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By Rick Delaney, Chairman of the Board.Will higher-income workers pay their fair share of taxes to Social Security?.Making matters worse, many who are impacted by the WEP and GPO are unaware of their existence until they file for benefits and retire. Chairman Johnson said on Tuesday, "The Social Security statement that is required by law shows them … the amount of Social Security benefits they would receive if the WEP and GPO didn't exist. These workers, just like every other American, have a right to know what their Social Security benefits will be so they can best prepare for their retirements.".In addition, one new cosponsor Senator Kamala Harris signed on to the Social Security Expansion Act from Senator Bernie Sanders. The cosponsor total is now at three in the Senate. If adopted, the bill would strengthen and expand the Social Security program by basing COLAs on the CPI-E, increasing monthly checks by per month, and improving the Special Minimum Benefit. It would cover the cost of these changes and strengthen the solvency of the trust fund by applying the payroll tax to income over 0,000 and applying a 6.2 percent tax on investment income for wealthy individuals..TSCL enthusiastically supports the CPI for Seniors Act since we believe it would go a long way in ensuring the retirement security seniors have earned and deserve. In the coming months, we will work tirelessly with Congressman Duncan to help build support for his critical new bill..Legislation to lower prescription drug prices is a top priority of TSCL's this year and we continue to monitor things very closely and work to pass legislation that will lower drug prices in a substantial way..The proposal to cut the growth of COLAs formed a major Social Security reform provision of President Obama's 2010 Fiscal Commission. It would reduce the growth rate in COLAs by switching to the more slowly-growing "chained" CPI. "The switch is insidious because it's enormously complicated to figure out, and it looks so small on paper - just 0.03 tenths of a percentage point," Hyland observes. "But the loss compounds over time. Within a decade it would have a significant financial punch that just keeps getting bigger," Hyland explains. The following chart provided by TSCL illustrates the impact of a chained CPI on a married couple's Social Security benefits, which start at a total of ,500 per month today, and how their benefits change over the first ten years. After ten years the chained CPI would reduce benefits by per month, and would cut benefits by ,488 over the ten-year period..The study examined the increase in costs of 39 key items between 2000 and January 201The items were chosen because they are typical of the costs of most Social Security recipients, and include expenditures like the Medicare Part B premium, that are not measured by the index currently used to calculate the COLA. Of the 39 items analyzed, 25 exceeded the percentage of increase in the COLA over the same period. "This study illustrates why legislation is needed to provide a more fair and adequate COLA," Johnson says. "To put it in perspective, the same 0 worth of groceries that a retiree household could buy in 2000, can only buy worth today," Johnson adds..During women's working years they tend to earn less than men for the same work. In addition, many women also take time out of the workforce to have children, or to provide care for aging family members. Some women do both, leaving low earnings and even zeroes in the earnings record that the Social Security Administration uses to determine their retirement benefit.