John,

Big news: the Social Security Administration just announced that the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits will be 2.5%.

That means that people receiving Social Security benefits will get slightly larger checks next year.

If it were up to Republicans, Social Security benefits wouldn’t keep up with rising prices. If it were up to Republicans, seniors would have an even harder time getting by.

Seniors need to know this before they vote this November. And today’s COLA announcement is a time when they’re all paying attention. Can you rush a donation to help us make the most of this opportunity?

Here are the facts:
The automatic annual cost-of-living adjustment is one of Social Security’s most essential features. It is intended to ensure that benefits do not erode over time. However, the formula currently used to calculate annual COLAs under-measures the expenses that Social Security beneficiaries face.

Seniors spend a greater proportion of their income on medical expenses―and the Social Security COLA should reflect that. Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced legislation that would update the COLA formula (among other improvements to Social Security) to reflect the real cost of living for seniors and people with disabilities.

When Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris served in the Senate, she co-sponsored one of those bills. So did vice presidential nominee Tim Walz when he served in the House.

Republicans have a different perspective. The Republican Study Committee (which comprises over 80% of House Republicans) proposes annual budgets that include Social Security cuts.

The RSC budget explicitly calls the current COLA formula too generous. They think seniors deserve less.

In fact, page 104 of the Fiscal Year 2025 Republican Study Committee Budget calls the automatic nature of COLAs a “problem” and implies that they should be subjected to annual Congressional approval―turning Social Security benefits into another fiscal deadline that they can take hostage, like the debt ceiling.

Seniors need to know: Republicans think that today’s Social Security benefits are too high, and are willing to fight to lower them. We’re getting this message out―and because of our work, Kamala Harris could be the first Democrat to win seniors in the 21st century.

Can you rush a donation to keep our campaign strong for the last 25 days?

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The bottom line is that Democrats want to make annual COLAs more accurate and generous, while Republicans want to make them stingier. Democrats also support other policies that would lower costs for Social Security beneficiaries, including Harris’s recently released plan to expand Medicare to include home care, hearing, and vision benefits. These are the facts that could determine the election.

Thank you,

Alex Lawson
Social Security Works