Fiscal Note
No City appropriation required.
Title
Opposing Social Security Administration office closures and other cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.
Body
WHEREAS, neighborhood Social Security offices and employees have faithfully served the public in communities across the country since 1935; and,
WHEREAS, Social Security benefits is the best protection against falling into poverty for Americans since its inception in 1935; and,
WHEREAS, local Social Security offices, staffed with trained civil servants across the nation, provide direct service in person and by telephone to millions of Americans each year; and,
WHEREAS, 20 percent of staff in local Social Security Administration offices in your community are veterans; and,
WHEREAS, 9.7 million of Americans receiving Social Security benefits are veterans; and,
WHEREAS, millions of veterans and their families depend on their monthly checks from Social Security for housing and food; and,
WHEREAS, older adults are the fastest growing population of homelessness, including thousands of veterans and families; and,
WHEREAS, 10,000 American reach retirement age each day; and,
WHEREAS, as of 2022, 94,880 Dane County residents received Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance benefits on a monthly basis; and,
WHEREAS, staffing at the Social Security Administration has fallen to a 50-year low while workloads have increased; and,
WHEREAS, the current Administration has announced a plan to cut staff dramatically to take federal tax dollars from our communities and transfer those dollars to billionaires by reducing their taxes; and,
WHEREAS, cutting costs leads to closing neighborhood Social Security offices, a dozen of which have already been announced; and,
WHEREAS, millions of American depend on nearby offices for filing for benefits, resolving problems with payments, work records, generate SSN’s, provide replacement cards, income and award letters and assist with disability issues; and,
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