(Submitted to, but not published by the Des Moines Register on May 13, 2021)
We couldn’t agree more with Rep. Cynthia Axne that President Biden’s infrastructure plan will not only fix roads, bridges and transit, but ensure that our elderly are well cared for (Overdue investments in Iowa’s infrastructure will create jobs, new opportunity, 5/12/21). But the American Jobs Plan would not only make direct investments in the well-being of seniors in Iowa and all over the country. It would fortify the program they rely on for financial survival: Social Security. Millions of higher-paying infrastructure jobs will result in workers paying more into Social Security every year, keeping the Social Security Trust Fund solvent farther into the future. Workers may also be eligible for higher Social Security benefits when they retire. With current Social Security benefits averaging a modest $1,550 per month in Iowa, future retirees could certainly use an increase. The more Social Security pays out in benefits, the greater the economic stimulus it provides as seniors spend that money in their communities. (Social Security already injects $11 billion dollars a year into Iowa’s economy.) We applaud President Biden’s expansive vision of ‘the infrastructure of aging.’ Iowans can also be glad that Social Security, which undergirds that infrastructure, will get a big boost from the President’s plan.
Max Richtman
President & CEO
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
Washington, D.C.