AARP Delivers 1,000 Petitions to Reed, Plumb to ‘Take A Stand,’ Work to Update Social Security

Social Security Faces 25% Benefits Cut by 2034 Without Action

CORNING, N.Y. – AARP today delivered nearly 1,000 petitions to 23 ^rd Congressional District candidates John Plumb and Tom Reed urging them to commit to working with the new Congress and new presidential administration to update Social Security for the 21 ^st Century if elected.

AARP Associate State Director for the Southern Tier Randy Hoak presented the petitions – signed by residents across the 23 ^rd District - to Mr. Plumb at 11:30 a.m. at the corner of Chemung Street and East Tioga Avenue in the parking lot of the building housing the Corning Social Security Administration offices, then delivered copies of the same petitions to Representative Reed at his office at 46 Market Street at noon.

Voters will choose between Republican incumbent Reed, a former Corning mayor who won his House seat in a 2010 special election, and Democrat Plumb in the November 8 general election.

AARP counts over 116,000 members in the 23 ^rd Congressional District – where there are over 163,000 Social Security recipients.

Social Security will be forced to cut benefits by nearly 25% in 2034 without action to update the program. That would cost some New Yorkers as much as $10,000 a year, and about $4,200 on average for Social Security recipients in New York annually.

A recent statewide AARP NY/Siena College survey found 57% of New York Generation Xers said they’re not confident they’ll receive promised Social Security benefits and 82% of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers combined call the likelihood that Social Security will remain available for future generations a significant problem.

AARP, a social mission association for Americans 50 and over, is conducting a nationwide “ Take A Stand” campaign pushing the presidential candidates to detail their positions on updating Social Security and congressional candidates to commit to working toward that goal next year. The petition deliveries are part of the campaign.

“Doing nothing on Social Security is not an option,” said Randy Hoak, AARP Associate State Director for the Southern Tier. “We need all candidates for Congress to pledge that they will work with whoever the new president is to make sure Americans do not lose the benefits they have earned during their entire working lives. Working New Yorkers pay into Social Security with every paycheck; they should be assured of receiving the full benefits they’re being promised.

“We’re hoping the candidates in the 23 ^rd will keep it front and center when they debate on Friday in Elmira,” Hoak added.

Candidates Plumb and Reed are scheduled to square off at 8 p.m. Friday in a WETM-TV debate co-sponsored by AARP.

“Nearly all New York residents age 65 or older receive Social Security,” said Ron Rehner, AARP’s lead volunteer in the 23 ^rd Congressional District, who joined Hoak for the petition deliveries. “43 percent of New York retirees would have income below the poverty line if it wasn’t for Social Security.”

Next year is the ideal window for action. The first year of a new presidential administration is historically the most productive, and if the next president serves eight years without action there will be less than a decade before the cuts take effect - and options for averting reductions would become much more difficult and painful.

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