Another major piece of legislation that Congress is working on, one which has been passed and been signed into law by whomever has been President for the past 59 years, is the National Defense Authorization Act. As we explained last week, that's the annual bill that authorizes the pay for members of the U.S. military as well as other important issues dealing with the Department of Defense..Is Congress Getting A Paycheck This Year?.This week, TSCL's legislative consultants, Former Congressman David Funderburk and Mrs. Betty Funderburk, along with TSCL's legislative analyst, Jessie Gibbons, held meetings on Capitol Hill with Members of Congress and their top staff..This week most members of the House and Senate are back in their districts or states meeting with constituents or otherwise conducting business there. A few have stayed in Washington to take part in hearings that are scheduled this week, although since many hearings are now held virtually, they do not necessarily have to be in Washington..This week, the Senate Finance Committee voted to advance the nomination of Sylvia Mathews Burwell as the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. In addition, one subcommittee held a hearing on strengthening the Social Security program, and The Senior Citizens League saw one key bill gain support..More than 5 million Social Security recipients with the lowest benefits are unlikely to see any net growth in their monthly checks after deduction of the Medicare Part B premium in 2019, according to a new analysis released by The Senior Citizens League. This will occur despite their receiving the highest cost-of-living adjustment in seven years. Those affected have a gross Social Security benefit of about 5 per month or less before deduction of the Part B premium. According to the analysis, the dollar amount of their Part B premium increase will be more than the dollar amount of their COLA. "This would make the fourth year in a row that this particular group has not seen a boost in their net Social Security benefits after the deduction for Medicare Part B premiums," says Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for the League.\.In addition, new retirees in 2017 or later would no longer have their benefits reduced by the WEP. Instead, all earnings would be considered when determining Social Security benefits. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady the sponsor of H.R. 711 explained on Tuesday, "No more unfair formula … Instead, we use the same benefit formula for everyone, looking at all earnings. And if some of those earnings aren't from Social Security covered employment, we adjust benefits to reflect the proportion that are.".With both chambers of Congress adjourned, the 113th Congress has officially come to a close. Lawmakers are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Monday, January 5th, to begin the first session of the 114th Congress. TSCL looks forward to working with both new and veteran lawmakers in the New Year, and we will continue to advocate tirelessly on behalf of our members and supporters in 2015..Nearly, 1.5 million people are affected by the WEP, which reduces the earned Social Security benefits of an individual who also receives a public pension from a job not covered by Social Security. For example, a teacher who spends his or her summers working a second job or a police officer who leaves the force after years of service but is not quite ready to retire can see their benefits reduced by as much as 40 percent. However, a similar worker with a private sector pension would not see this kind of reduction. We are punishing public sector employees such as our teachers, firefighters, and police officers.
