WASHINGTON – Social Security recipients usually receive annual cost of living increases based on a formula where inflation is over two percent. This year there will be no COLA because that formula places inflation below that mark.
US Senator Charles Schumer said he wants to correct that “anomaly,” which he said is heavily tied to the price of gasoline, which has gone down considerably.
“If you took gas and energy out of the mix, the formula would show rises of over two percent, and then everyone would get a COLA. It is totally unfair to seniors because seniors and disabled drive less than the average person,” the Democrat senator said. “Some of them may not have cars at all,” he said. “The senior citizen cost of living is higher than two percent even if inflation is lower than two percent.”
Schumer is backing a one-time $580 payment to Social Security recipients this year to replace the lack of a cost of living adjustment.
