A bipartisan group of Washington, D.C., lawmakers plans to reintroduce a bill on Thursday that would update a federal anti-poverty program that millions of Americans rely on to provide for their basic needs.
Supplemental Security Income is a federal program that provides monthly benefits to adults and children who are blind, disabled or age 65 and older who have limited income and financial resources. Approximately 7.4 million Americans receive SSI benefits.
“SSI is a critical lifeline for millions of Americans — but the program is five decades out-of-date, leaving people behind and even punishing them for trying to save up,” Warren said.
“As we get further and further from the original purpose and helping seniors and people with disabilities stay out of poverty, there just have to be changes,” said Tracey Gronniger, managing director of economic security at Justice in Aging, a national organization dedicated to fighting senior poverty. “We can’t just leave the program to kind of just wallow because we don’t want to spend any money.”
