By Marc Schollett
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 12:36 p.m.
Read more: Local, National, Economy, Military, Fact, Finder, Social Security, Marc, Schollett, Pay Raise, Government, Lawmakers, Money, Fact Finder
If you rely on Social Security to make ends meet, next year you will have to make do with what you are currently getting. Word out of Washington is that there will be not Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security recipients. One of our viewers wondered if other people who get a check from the Federal Government are getting a bump in the paycheck in the form of a COLA. As it turns out, some will. The answers I found are the subject of this Fact Finder.
Betty Anderson can wrap up her reasons for playing cards at the Traverse City Senior Center in a few short words. As Betty explains it, "something to do meet people, have a lot of friends yeah, good coffee." All of those things are pretty easy to find around the card tables here at the senior center. What's not so easy to find are folks who agree with the decision that social security benefits will not see a Cost of Living Adjustment for next year. Anderson says "I think most of them in Traverse City would think that's not fair."
35 years in a row social security have grown at least a little. In 1980 the COLA was 14 percent. It's highest one year increase ever. In 1998 the increase was only 1.3 percent. That was the lowest yearly increase until 2010. I contacted the Social Security Department about COLA. Here is what they told me, "The Cost of Living Adjustment is based on percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) from the third quarter of one year to the third quarter of the next. If there is no increase, there is no COLA."
So next year, seniors like Betty Anderson, won't be seeing a cost of living adjustment. She says "I have a very small pension, so I need whatever money is coming to me, which I feel social security is something that was promised to us many years ago, so what's with all the monkeying around."
Good Question Betty, and she is not alone in asking it. Another of our viewers sent us an email. He wanted us to find out "if all federal government employees - including our elected officials, their staffs, and the military- will also NOT receive a COLA this year?"
So I did a little fact finding for him. Here is what I found out when it comes to Cost of Living Adjustments.
We'll start with federal lawmakers. They will not see an increase in pay for 2010. Each year they have the option of voting against pay raises. We brought this to you in a Fact Finder earlier this year. You may remember, if they do nothing they get a raise. This year the House and Senate did actually vote it down, so no Cola for Congress.
There is better news for members of our armed services. They will see bump in their paychecks, but how much is still up in the air. President Obama had proposed in his budget a 2.9% increase, the House and Senate have agreed on a 3.4 percent raise. The final number will most likely be known closer to October 1st. Although the .5 percent difference between the President's 2.9 and Congress's 3.4 might not seem like much, the difference alone adds up to the tune of about $347 million to the cost of the 2010 military pay raise.
What about the other 1.8 million civilian federal employees?
In a letter President Obama sent to lawmakers on August 31, he called for 2 percent across the board increase for all federal employees in 2010 budget. That's a reduction from the 2.4 percent proposed earlier. At the lower rate (2%) it would save just under 20 billion dollars from the federal payroll compared to the higher rate (2.4%). A pay raise of 2% would leave federal workers with their lowest raise in two decades.
So what do you think? Do you agree with those are getting a raise? What about Social Security? The military? Who deserves what, and does anybody deserve nothing? Let me know.
Please leave your thoughts below.
